Explaining Brazil #194: Jair calls time on the pandemic

On Sunday, Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga announced that Brazil would lift its coronavirus public health emergency, declared back in February 2020. The government is claiming victory over Covid just as the presidential election approaches. But calling Brazil’s pandemic response a success would be impossible by any stretch of the imagination.

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Guest:

• Euan Marshall is an editor at The Brazilian Report and also hosts the Explaining Brazil podcast in the absence of Gustavo Ribeiro.

This episode used music from Uppbeat. License codes: 2AAWYYGTWZ6MQV8B, 5OGP6AN3O8TWCBB5, DXY3X0A11M8OZTJI.

Background reading:

• If nothing else, the government’s decision to end the Covid health emergency will create uncertainty about the future of Brazil’s coronavirus vaccination program, writes Amanda Audi.
• After almost six months of investigations, a Senate committee accused President Jair Bolsonaro of nine crimes for his handling of the pandemic — including crimes against humanity. Now, the ball is in the prosecutor general’s court.
• Like almost everything else related to the pandemic, vaccination policies were highly politicized in Brazil. For most of last year, Jair Bolsonaro and São Paulo Governor João Doria used the vaccine race as a sparring match before the 2022 election.
• Brazil faced multiple vaccine delays despite its history of immunization successes. That was the byproduct of a federal government unwilling to pursue coronavirus vaccines, going AWOL on Pfizer for months, and being incapable of coordinating rollouts with states and cities.
• And while the Bolsonaro administration purposely stalled vaccine deals with Pfizer, members of the government are suspected of having asked for bribes before purchasing immunizers.
• Despite the government — not because of it — Brazil’s Covid immunization program reached 88 percent of Brazilians eligible for vaccination with at least one shot. However, only 51 percent of residents have taken three or more shots.

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