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HEALTH-VIRUS-BRAZIL-POLITICS
Bolsonaro changes health minister again, as Brazil’s Covid cases surge
BRASILIA, March 16, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro
announced Monday that he will appoint cardiologist Marcelo Queiroga as health
minister, the fourth to hold the post during the pandemic, as the country’s
health system staggers amid surging Covid-19 cases.
“It was decided now in the afternoon to appoint physician Marcelo Queiroga
to the Ministry of Health,” Bolsonaro said in a brief meeting with his
supporters at the Alvorada presidential palace. The transition process
“should take one or two weeks,” he added.
The appointment will be finalized Tuesday.
Bolsonaro made the announcement after meeting with Queiroga, and hours
after current health minister Eduardo Pazuello told a press-conference that
the president was seeking to replace him to “reorganize” the ministry.
“The conversation (with Queiroga) was excellent,” Bolsonaro said. “He has
everything in my opinion to do a good job, giving continuity in everything
Pazuello did until today.”
The appointment of Queiroga, the president of the Brazilian Society of
Cardiology (SBC), comes as Bolsonaro’s government faces harsh criticism for
its chaotic handling of the coronavirus pandemic and denials of the severity
of the crisis.
“From now on we are going to a more aggressive phase regarding the fight
against the virus,” far-right Bolsonaro said.
Before leaving office, Pazuello announced the government had purchased 100
million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which should be delivered by
September. He also said that some 38 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s
single-shot vaccine should arrive in the second half of 2021.
The completion of the purchase is vital to speed up Brazil’s vaccination
campaign, as the country has seen a spike in new Covid-19 cases and deaths
since February.
The recent wave has brought hospitals in more than half of the South
American nation’s 27 states to the brink of collapse and caused state
governors to order more restrictions to slow the spread of the virus.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0950 hrs