Back from Monday’s holiday, we return with our Weekly Report. This week, Health Minister Pazuello in deep trouble, Brazil’s emergency aid program could return, and the latest in the country’s vaccination numbers
Supreme Court turns up pressure on Health Minister
The Supreme Court authorized the Federal Prosecution Office to formally investigate Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello for his potential omission faced with the health collapse in Manaus, the largest city in the Amazon basin. The city has witnessed days of horror, as hospitals are operating well above capacity and without oxygen supplies. Meanwhile, infections continue to increase at an almost uncontrollable pace.
- Weighing against the minister is the fact that his department was consistently warned about the looming crisis — by local experts, oxygen-producing companies, and even one of his sisters-in-law. But the Health Ministry failed to act until patients were already reportedly dying from asphyxiation within hospitals.
- On January 16 and 18, Brazilian authorities were offered three cargo planes to quickly transport oxygen cylinders to Manaus (two by the United Nations and one by the U.S. government). The government has yet to reply to the proposal. Neither the Health Ministry nor the Foreign Affairs Ministry has offered any explanation...