Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said Wednesday his administration is suspending an effort to buy hundreds of millions of syringes just as the country is preparing to launch a nationwide vaccination campaign against COVID-19.
Bolsonaro said on his social media channels that prices for syringes have soared, so, “The Health Ministry has suspended the purchase until prices return to normal.”
He also said states and municipalities possess enough stock to handle the first stage of the forthcoming immunization campaign “because the amount of vaccines at first is not big.”
A television reporter wearing a mask amid the new coronavirus pandemic, applies makeup as she waits for Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro and Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello to end their meeting discussing the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines, in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021. (AP PhotoEraldo Peres)
The government posted its tender for 331 million syringes on Dec. 16, but received bids for only 8 million by the Dec. 29 deadline, apparently because companies were demanding a higher price than the government-set maximum. Officials earlier said they had extended the deadline, seeking more offers.
Deaths and detected infections of the new coronavirus have been surging in the nation of some 210 million people, adding pressure on the government to start administering shots. While other nations in the region have started vaccinations, Brazil's health regulator hasn’t yet approved any vaccines, and the Health Ministry hasn't provided a definite rollout date for its program.
Officials in Brazil's most populous state, Sao Paulo, say they plan to start vaccinations on Jan. 25 if regulators approve the Chinese-developed CoronaVac shot they have contracted for, and state officials say they have 71 million needles stocked.
For its part, the federal government expects to receive 2 million of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University shots this month and could start vaccinations in February.
Federal officials this week requisitioned 30 million syringes from three medical device producers, though details have not yet been worked out, according to a spokesperson for the Brazilian Medical Devices Manufacturers’ Association, which represents the firms.
The spokesperson said suspension of the syringe tender came as a surprise to the three main Brazilian producers negotiating with the government. “We learned about it in the media,” the person told The Associated Press, declining to be named for lack of authorization to speak publicly.
“Once again, the wrong decision,” said Maranhao state Gov. Flávio Dino, a frequent critic of the president's handling of the pandemic, in a Twitter post reacting to Wednesday's announcement.
Several states are setting records for new COVID-19 cases, though the nation as a whole last week reported an average 713 deaths per day, down from a peak of more than 1,000 daily deaths sustained for months in 2020.