January 19, 2021

Brazil: from oxygen shortages to vaccination rollouts

topic:	Health and Sanitation
located:	Brazil
editor:	Ellen Nemitz

Brazil is one of the countries most severely hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Over 8 million cases were reported so far, and nearly 210,000 people have died - the second largest death toll in the world from the disease, trailing behind the US only. 

Over the last ten months, the Latin American nation was divided between science and obscurantism, between experts and deniers, including among them President Jair Bolsonaro himself, who went from the “little flu” speech to absurds such as saying that the vaccine could turn people into alligators. 

On 14 January, medical oxygen ran out in hospitals of Manaus, a city in the Amazon region, which caused several deaths. On the following Sunday, a 54-year-old black female nurse in São Paulo, Monica Calazans, was the first person to be vaccinated after the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa, in Portuguese) unanimously approved the emergency use of CoronaVac and Oxford/AstraZeneca’s vaccines - both can now be produced by Brazilians laboratories, Butantan and Fiocruz. 

Nonetheless, the vaccination rollout is just beginning. Our World in Data counted 112 people vaccinated in Brazil on the first day of the vaccine rollout, and the supply's logistics will be challenging.. Meanwhile, the media showed that what happened in Manaus last week was an avoidable tragedy. Both the president of the country and the Health Minister, general Eduardo Pazuello, should have been warned about the shortage of medical oxygen supplies amid the second wave of the Covid-19, which includes a new variant of the virus. In addition, the police found oxygen cylinders hidden inside a truck, allegedly to make price speculation, and the government has increased taxes on these products just three weeks before the critical day in Manaus; right afterwards, on 15 January, as a response to popular pressure, the taxes were zeroed again.

The incompetent conduct of Jair Bolsonaro’s administration since the beginning of the pandemic was one of the highlights of the Human Rights Watch World Report regarding 2020. The document summarizes it: "President Bolsonaro downplayed Covid-19, which he called 'a little flu'; refused to take measures to protect himself and the people around him; disseminated misleading information; and tried to block states from imposing social distancing rules. His administration attempted to withhold Covid-19 data from the public. He fired his health minister for defending World Health Organization recommendations, and the replacement health minister quit in opposition to the president’s advocacy of an unproven drug to treat Covid-19.”

Despite Brazil’s mishandling of the pandemic response under Bolsonaro's administration, it is not too late to take the right path. It is urgent to investigate every possible lack of willingness to provide any necessary material: from oxygen cylinders to vaccines. Also, the crusade against fake news continues, and it is up to everyone - from the population to social media companies - to prevent the spread of misinformation. 

Finally, an impeachment process must be installed and taken very seriously by the legislative houses, in order to, under the Constitution, evaluate the government’s responsibility. “As authorities responsible for conducting the Brazilian State’s response to the pandemic, both the minister Pazuello and the president Bolsonaro should be held accountable for the crimes against humanity and responsibility committed,” claimed the NGO Conectas Human Rights.

Image by IMF internal.