Good morning! Today, we explain Thursday’s mad session in the Covid hearings. A 2022 presidential hopeful comes out as gay. What Brazil is doing to enter the OECD. And how vaccine rollouts are progressing in Brazil.
Senators believe vaccine witness is government plant
The man who denounced an alleged cash-for-jabs scheme related to the Health Ministry’s procurement of AstraZeneca vaccines appeared before the Senate’s Covid hearings committee on Thursday. However, instead of clarifying his claims, his deposition actually made any understanding of the current vaccine scandals under investigation all the more difficult.
- Luiz Paulo Dominguetti Pereira, who represents a Texas-based firm called Davati Medical Supply, reiterated to senators that the ministry’s former logistics director wanted a USD 1 bribe for each AstraZeneca vaccine purchased by the government.
- Then, he played an audio clip to the committee suggesting that Congressman Luis Miranda wanted a cut of the deal.
- Remember: Luis Miranda appeared before the committee last week, denouncing that the government’s House whip, Congressman Ricardo Barros, was lobbying for a deal to buy 20 million Covaxin doses for USD 300 million — despite glaring flaws with the vaccine data and the contract’s terms.
- Our take: Everything about Mr. Pereira’s...