This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: Results of the investigation and further implications in 2021 and into 2022.. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(May 2022)
Alleged overbilling of 20 million doses of Covaxin vaccine by members of the Brazilian government
The Case Covaxin,[1] also known as Covaxgate,[2] refers to an investigation made by the Brazilian
Federal Public Ministry (MPF), held on June 16, 2021,[3] which found evidence of irregularities in the purchase of 20 million doses by the
Ministry of Health of the Indian vaccine
Covaxin, with the value of the vaccines 1000% higher than initially foreseen.[4]
An investigation by the
Federal Public Ministry (MPF), conducted on June 16, 2021, found evidence of irregularities in the purchase of 20 million doses of the vaccine through the pharmaceutical company Precisa Medicamentos, with the value of the vaccines 1000% higher than the initial value shown initially by Bharat Biotech six months earlier.[6] On June 29, the contract for the purchase of the vaccine was suspended by the
Ministry of Health after "controversies".[7]
On Friday, June 25, 2021, Congressman Luis Miranda (
DEM-
DF) and his brother, Luis Ricardo Miranda, a civil servant at the Ministry of Health, were heard at the
COVID-19 CPI.[8] The Miranda brothers said that the contract for the purchase of the Indian vaccine
Covaxin was agenda. During testimony, Ricardo Miranda refuted
Onyx Lorenzoni's accusations.[9] After suspecting corruption in the Covaxin purchase, the congressman and the civil servant claim that they would have met with President Bolsonaro.[10]
Covaxin (or BBV152) is a
vaccine against COVID-19 produced in
India by the Bharat Biotech laboratory.[13] In January 2021, Precisa Med signed a contract with Bharat Biotech to supply Covaxin in Brazil.[14]
It was one of the first to be used in the world for emergency vaccination and would be one of the vaccines applied by Brazil, where it would be produced in partnership with Precisa Medicamentos, and the
Ministry of Health estimated to use it in February 2021.[15][16] On February 5, 2021, the
National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) announced that it had received an application to study the vaccine in Brazil.[17]
On February 26 the Government of Brazil announced that it would buy 20 million doses of the Indian Covaxin vaccine.[18]
Sanitary risk
On March 30, 2021, Anvisa announced that it had denied the manufacturer the Good Manufacturing Practices Certificate due to "health risk to users," having found, after an inspection of Bharat in India, "non-conformities, being three critical, 12 major and 14 minor, which together denote a significant risk to manufacturing and quality assurance of the product."[19][20]
Approval
The vaccine was approved for emergency use at the end of February 2021.[21]