Covid hearings request protection for Covaxin whistleblower

Congressman Luis Miranda. Photo: Pablo Valadares/CD

Senator Omar Aziz, chairman of the Covid hearings committee, announced that he has requested Federal Police protection for Congressman Luis Miranda and his brother, Luis Ricardo Miranda, who will testify before the inquiry on Friday.

A former senior Health Ministry official, Luis Ricardo claims to have been pressured into greenlighting a contract for the purchase of 20 million doses of the Indian-made Covaxin vaccine in February. One month later, Brazil’s health regulator Anvisa denied lab Bharat Biotech — which manufactures Covaxin — a certificate of best practices to produce medicines, a requirement for import approval.

On Wednesday, the government’s Secretary-General Onyx Lorenzoni told reporters that the Feds would investigate the claims made by the Miranda brothers, accusing both men of defamation.

Janaína Camelo

Janaína Camelo has been a political reporter for ten years, working for multiple media outlets. More recently, she worked for the presidency's press service and is now specializing in data journalism.