The Senate plenary approved this Thursday (12) the provisional measure that authorizes the federal government to donate immunizations against covid-19 to other countries, as part of international humanitarian cooperation. THE MP 1081/2021is now on for enactment.
Donations cannot harm vaccination in Brazil and will be subject to a term signed by the federal government, through the Ministry of Health, responsible for the National Plan for the Operationalization of Vaccination against Covid-19.
Regarding the costs of transporting immunizers, the rule says that they will be paid for by the recipient country of the donation or by budget allocations from the federal Executive Branch or other collaborators.
The definition of the amount to be sent and the choice of recipient will be at the discretion of the Ministry of Health after hearing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The donation will depend on the expression of interest and the consent of receiving the immunizer by the country to be benefited.
“To get an idea of the seriousness of the situation, UNICEF data indicate that countries such as Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal received doses equivalent to more than 170% of their respective populations, while Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo , Haiti, Cameroon and Yemen receive doses corresponding to less than 6% of their inhabitants. Brazil, in turn, is in the select group of countries with, proportionally, the highest number of doses in relation to the population: 148.81%”, explained the rapporteur of the proposal, Senator Vanderlan Cardoso (PSD-GO).
According to the Ministry of Health, the government intends to donate 10 million doses of the vaccine against covid-19 acquired through the Covax Facility consortium to countries in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa that have not yet managed to advance in vaccination.
