SAO PAULO (AP) – Brazilian marketing manager Eduardo Menga is extra cautious about his health. During the pandemic, he consulted a series of doctors to make sure he was in good condition and uprooted his family from Rio de Janeiro to a quiet rural town where he works remotely. His wife Bianca Rinaldi, an actress, has not been working since March.
Menga and Rinaldi are among a minority of Brazilians who will pay for a COVID-19 vaccine if an association of private clinics can sign an agreement to bring 5 million shots to the most unequal country in Latin America.. President Jair Bolsonaro, under fire for the government’s handling of the pandemic, promised not to interfere.
“When I go to a restaurant and pay for my own food, I do not take anyone else’s food,” said 68-year-old Menga from his home in Jundiai, Sao Paulo. ‘I can not imagine that a vaccine is taken at a private clinic by someone else waiting in the public system. It could be an alternative line, and those who have the chance should risk it. ”
Amid the government’s obstacle, many Brazilians want to find a quick way to vaccination, which is causing a setback for some public health experts and sparking debate on social media, editorial pages and talk shows.
There is worldwide concern that the privileged can play the system of getting themselves vaccinated in front of others. After the allies were caught jumping ahead in countries such as Turkey, Morocco and Spain, they received criticism, investigations or forced resignations.
In Brazil, too, there are reports of line talkers, but the country is falling apart because maneuvering is not just done in the shadows. Some are in public with the prosperous coordination efforts the government endorses, according to Roberto DaMatta, an emeritus professor of anthropology at the University of Notre Dame.
“The pandemic makes Brazil’s inequality clearer because the virus does not choose social class, but the drug may just be,” said DaMatta, who wrote the book “Do You Know Who You Talk to?” a portrait of Brazilian privilege. It was inspired by episodes during the pandemic, including a judge who refused the order of a police officer to wear a mask, and then called the state security chief to protest and his fine of 100 reais ($ 20) picked up.
‘Brazil’s affluent normalized slavery for centuries. Now they accept that more poor and black people are dying because of COVID, and they are putting little pressure on a government that has sabotaged the implementation. Taking the vaccine in this scenario can depend on organization, so the wealthy organize, ”DaMatta told The Associated Press.
Business leaders and some authorities are defending efforts to secure a vaccine as a boost to Brazil’s economic recovery. And anyway, they argue, why would the affluent not buy vaccines if the government’s efforts fall short? So far, Brazil has 13.9 million shots available to a population of 210 million people, and has given the first of two shots to only 1% of citizens since the vaccination began on 18 January.
Health experts, in turn, view such efforts because unethical given vaccines are rare worldwide and that at-risk groups have the immediate need to avoid death; already nearly 230,000 Brazilians have died from COVID-19, the second highest score in the world.
And while people over 65 like Menga are close to the top of the list, the slow rollout of Brazil, which could take up to 16 months, means it could take a long time before he gets a chance, and even longer for his wife, which is 46. .
The debate over the unfair distribution of vaccines in Brazil first flared up after Supreme Court employees allegedly maneuvered to set aside about 7,000 COVID-19 vaccines for themselves and their families; the government lab that is going to make and distribute AstraZeneca shots refused, saying it could not discuss shots. Sao Paulo state prosecutors also worked with health workers for inclusion in priority groups.
After these efforts escalated, Brazil’s private health clinics stepped in to circumvent the government’s procurement plans. Managers of the Association of Private Clinics in Brazil negotiated directly with the Indian pharmaceutical company Bharat Biotech for the COVAXIN survey. The association of about 30,000 private clinics registers prospective clients on a waiting list.
Brazil has no dealings with Bharat and its health regulator has yet to approve COVAXIN, but as a sign of what the future may hold if the deal goes through, the state’s Rio Grande do Sul government association last month asked its members if they were interested in the purchase of shots from the clinics association.
Gonzalo Vecina, who headed the Brazilian health agency between 1999 and 2003, says such efforts in the private sector are a major problem, not only on ethical and legal grounds, but also on public health .
‘The private network does not have to follow the priority protocol of the Ministry of Health. So if it continues, we will have a line for people who have $ 200, where you can get a chance next week, and another who will not move for months, ‘said Vecina.
“What everyone needs to understand is that the pandemic will not end if it does not end for everyone.”
Most of the planet relies on public health care networks to administer vaccines, and few countries with large populations use private channels for distribution. A notable exception is the US, where Americans can get a chance at pharmacies, clinics and other private institutions. Hospitals in at least eight US states are accused of benefiting board members, trustees, family members and donors who should have waited their turn.
On January 26, Bolsonaro said he had signed a letter to strengthen an offer from a group of Brazilian executives to record 33 million doses of AstraZeneca shot, half of which is used as they wish and half to the donated to the country’s public health system. .
Brazilian media reported that at least 11 companies were in the group, including state-owned oil company Petrobras, steelmaker Gerdau and telephone carrier Oi, which declined to comment.
“It will help the economy a lot, and also those who might want to be vaccinated,” Bolsonaro said of the companies’ efforts. Economy Minister Paulo Guedes described the effort as “apparently very good”.
In contrast, a council of business leaders in neighboring Colombia hit a barrier when it asked permission to buy COVID-19 shots. Colombia’s health minister said the possibility would only be considered in the second phase of vaccination, after all health workers and people over the age of 60 had received their shots.
Despite Bolsonaro’s support, AstraZeneca rejected the Brazilian management’s effort and said in a statement that it would not deliver to the Brazilian private sector, at least for the time being. Sao Paulo’s industry federation issued a statement two days later denying that such negotiations had ever taken place.
A former governor of the Brazilian central bank, Armínio Fraga, has said he opposes the movements of wealthier Brazilians and fears that vaccine prices could rise if businesses are allowed to bid for it.
“We live in a moment of global scarcity,” Fraga, a partner at investment firm Gavea Investimentos, told Valor newspaper in an online interview. “We need some coordination to respect priority groups.” ____
AP reporters Suzan Fraser contributed from Ankara, Elena Becatoros from Athens, Aritz Parra from Madrid, Mosa’ab Elshamy from Rabat and Russ Bynum from Savannah, Georgia.