The Brazilian government has offered at least 5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines from Astrazeneca to Ukraine and an unreported amount to Paraguay. This country refused the offer and, so far, the government of Volodymyr Zelensky has not commented, according to information from the Ministry of Health given to the Sheet.
The information on the supply of vaccines was sent by the folder to the STF (Federal Supreme Court) on June 26 in a case on vaccination against Covid reported by Minister Ricardo Lewandowski.
At the time, the Supreme Court asked the government of Jair Bolsonaro to take action on the possibility of loss, by the end of August, of almost 28 million doses of vaccines against Covid-19, if the immunizers are not applied by then, as shown by the Ministry of Health. Sheet in June.
The request stated that, as it is not possible to apply these doses to the Brazilian population, the immediate donation should be made to needy countries, according to technical and scientific criteria of countries that are still the effective focus of the disease and that contain low vaccine coverage, according to WHO parameters. (World Health Organization).
The case was presented to the STF by Rede Sustentabilidade, after the publication of a report in the Sheet and also gave rise to a lawsuit filed with the TCU (Union Court of Auditors).
There are at least 26 million units of Astrazeneca and 1.92 million doses of Pfizer that expire this month and in August. The two types of vaccines are pointed out by the Ministry of Health itself as a priority in strengthening immunization against Covid-19.
The lots, bought at R$ 1.23 billion, accumulate at a time when coverage is stagnant and the government is disdainful of the lack of breath of the vaccination campaign.
Brazil reached 674,166 deaths from Covid this Tuesday (12) and has more than 33 million people infected with the coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic.
The director of the Department of Immunization and Communicable Diseases, Cássia de Fátima Fernandes, said in the technical note delivered to the STF that the two vaccine donation requests are intended for humanitarian cooperation, authorized by Provisional Measure No. .
The note also justifies that the doses of vaccines against Covid-19 were acquired considering strategic issues, such as competition from countries and the need to formulate different contracts due to prices in the national and international market.
To justify the stock, Saúde also told the STF that there is still “an expressive number of people who could have already completed their vaccination schedule or received the first dose, but who have not yet been to the health posts”.
“The lack of compliance with the complete vaccination schedule not only harms immunization, but also causes negative impacts on the use of the quantities of vaccines acquired by the Ministry of Health. Therefore, it is important that the population becomes aware of the importance of complying with the vaccination schedule and the booster doses”, said the body to the STF.
In addition, the ministry stated that it is important that states, the Federal District and municipalities “maintain the commitment to encourage the population to comply with the vaccination schedule and the need to apply booster doses”.
The agency also recalled that on May 19, a law was published that authorizes the federal executive branch to donate immunizations against Covid to other countries as part of international humanitarian cooperation. For this, it is necessary the interest and consent of the beneficiary and that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs be heard. When contacted on the subject, Itamaraty did not respond.
THE Sheet the press office of the Ministry of Health said that the donations “respect the validity period and the capacity of internalization of immunizations by the receiving country”.
It also reported that 5.1 million doses of Astrazeneca immunizers have already been donated by Brazil to the Covax Facility, an international initiative that coordinates efforts to distribute vaccines against Covid-19 to all countries, following the principles of equity and universality. . Another 500 thousand doses of the Coronavac vaccine had already been donated to Paraguay.
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