Health fines main carrier of Covid vaccines by BRL 1.47 million

The Ministry of Health fined BRL 1.47 million for the company responsible for distributing most doses of the vaccine against Covid-19.

Inspectors of the folder also suggested the imposition of another fine, of approximately R$ 6 million, for lack of “accuracy” in the inventory of health supplies.

VTCLog, which was targeted by the Covid CPI in the Senate on suspicion of corruption, has a contract with the ministry since 2018 for the storage and transport of critical health supplies.

The contract is used for the distribution of immunizations against Covid-19 to the states. The exception is pediatric vaccines, in charge of another company, IBL (Intermodal Brasil Logística), contracted for exemption from bidding and without experience in the transport of immunizations in the SUS (Unified Health System).

Internal documents from the ministry show that a director of VTCLog, Raimundo Nonato Brasil, was warned on January 7 about the imposition of a fine of R$ 1.47 million, money that must be paid to the public coffers, according to the ministry’s official letter.

VTCLog breached the contractual clause on performance indicators, which need to be monitored and achieved during the course of the contract.

Among these indicators are the time of receipt of the load, separation of the products, absence of error in this separation and index of damage in the stock.

In a note, VTCLog stated that the fine concerned “contractual discussions that are part of any commercial relationship”.

“The contract has been faithfully fulfilled without any harm to public health. VTCLog has already distributed more than 380 million vaccines against Covid-19 throughout the country without any complications”, said the company.

The Ministry of Health, in turn, said that the facts are under investigation and that more information will be released after the process is concluded.

On December 8, the General Coordination of Logistics of Strategic Inputs for Health sent a letter to VTCLog representatives demanding compliance with the contractual clause on performance indicators.

A meeting was held in the same month, when the company presented indicators, considered invalid by the folder.

The TCU (Union Court of Auditors), in a November ruling, had demanded the existence of performance indicators and precision in the monitoring of material transported by the company.

The ministry then applied a compensatory fine of 7% on the company’s monthly revenue under the contract, taking into account payments made in October 2021.

That month, the billing was R$ 21 million. “Therefore, the total amount of the fine to be paid to the public coffers is R$ 1,473,546.28”, said the contract inspector and the department’s technicians in the letter sent to the director of VTCLog.

The same inspector opined for the application of a fine of R$ 5,997,029.00 to the company, for lack of “accuracy” in the inventory of health supplies. The suggestion of the fine was made in a November 2021 document.

In the same month, the inspector and the technical area of ​​the ministry proposed a warning to VTCLog for recurrent failures in the transport of biological material from a Lacen (Central Public Health Laboratory).

VTCLog’s contract with the Ministry of Health is scheduled for five years, until 2023, with an annual value of R$ 97 million. Amendments were signed, and the overall value of the contract considerably exceeds the expected value.

According to the TCU, the ministry itself already made a prediction, in July 2020, that the total amount would reach R$ 730.2 million. By July 2021, R$ 537.3 million had already been paid, with the possibility of reaching R$ 895 million in 2023, according to the TCU.

VTCLog became one of the main investigation targets of the Covid CPI, which operated from April to October last year.

The commission’s final report proposed indicting the company and four directors for active corruption and administrative impropriety. The case is now being investigated by the Federal Public Ministry of the Federal District.

The company entered the senators’ radar for its alleged connection with the former director of logistics at the Ministry of Health Roberto Ferreira Dias. He was exonerated the same day the leaf showed a complaint by military police officer Luiz Paulo Dominghetti Pereira that he heard from Dias a request for a bribe of US$ 1 per dose of vaccine against Covid-19 to advance the negotiations for the purchase of the immunizer.

CPI senators pointed out the existence of a scheme to direct contracts in favor of VTCLog and to readjust them above what is considered legal. Dias would have authorized an amendment of 1,800% in the folder contract with the company during the new coronavirus pandemic.

VTCLog is responsible for the logistics services for the distribution and storage of healthcare supplies, including vaccines against Covid-19.

With the exception of vaccines for pediatric use — the subject of a new contract, in charge of the company IBL Logística —, VTCLog is responsible for distributing to the states all vaccines against Covid-19 acquired by the Brazilian government.

The company and its directors have always denied wrongdoing, as has Roberto Ferreira Dias. In testimony to the commission, Raimundo Nonato Brasil said that there are no irregularities in the company’s contracts with the public authorities and that the readjustments in contracts are due to “high demand” in the pandemic.

The company had also drawn the attention of senators, after millions of looting made by the company’s motoboys. The company’s managing partner then justified that it was a “family business”, which had not yet modernized.

In December, the Ministry of Health released a bid for a new contract aimed at transporting vaccines against Covid-19. The department established special conditions and hired IBL, responsible for transporting doses of Pfizer vaccines for children aged 5 to 11 years, at a temperature of -90ºC to -60ºC. VTCLog had expressed interest in the proposal.

The IBL has no experience with the transport of immunizers in the SUS, such as the leaf showed in an article published on the 16th. The deliveries of the first batches were marked by a series of problems, such as flight delays, lack of teams to receive immunizers and inadequate conditions of vaccine recipients.

The Ministry of Health even warned states about the need to seek doses at airports, which increased the confusion, recognized by the ministry itself, which called what happened a mismatch.

Representatives of the Ministry’s superintendencies and Health Departments traveled to airports for final transport, an assignment of the contracted company.