Had he lived, Josildo de Moura would have celebrated his 40th anniversary this December. Instead the devoted husband and father of 5 died of Covid in May, gasping for breath outside a neighbourhood clinic on the outskirts of Sao Paulo. He was 62, and just like the overwhelming majority of Brazilians, still waiting to be vaccinated.
“The pain is endless,” says his wife Cida, sitting at her table , ringed by her children and grandchildren. “And one day we hear about more families suffering as we suffer, losing a beloved .”
The losses here are staggering. quite half 1,000,000 Brazilians have died with Covid-19, the second highest price worldwide, behind only the US . Experts here predict their country is on track to overtake the US.
How did it come to the present , during a middle-income country, with a longtime system for vaccinating against diseases? For several , responsibility rests with Brazil’s far-right President, Jair Bolsonaro.Evidence from a representative of the vaccine manufacturer Pfizer was particularly damning. He told the inquiry the corporation repeatedly offered to sell the govt vaccines last year. it had been ignored – for months. Over 100 emails were unanswered.
Another witness at the inquiry accused President Bolsonaro of turning a blind eye to irregularities and large overcharging, during a contract to shop for an unapproved Covid vaccine from India. The President has denied any knowledge, and any wrongdoing.
The inquiry is headed by the opposition senator, Omar Aziz, a towering figure from the hard-hit state of Amazonas, who fist-bumps his way through the corridors of parliament. His own brother, Walid, is among the dead. He lost a life-long friend to the virus on the day we met.
From the outset of the pandemic, the Brazilian leader has been dismissive of Covid-19, calling it “a little flu.” Asked last year about deaths from the virus he replied “that’s an issue for a grave digger”.
He has scorned social distancing, insisting the economy must remain open, and said staying in a house is “for idiots”. Just last month he was fined for not wearing a mask as he led a motorcycle rally of his supporters.
As the president has minimized the risks, Professor Pedro Hallal has counted the dead. He’s an epidemiologist, leading the most important Covid study in Brazil. As a scientist, and as a Brazilian, he says it’s been a waking nightmare.
“At some point in life everyone has that dream during which they can not move, or can’t shout,” he says. “This is strictly my feeling for these 16 months. I even have been trained to know what’s happening during a pandemic and that I say that and nobody within the government is listening. As we are speaking today another 2,000 Brazilians will die.”
Professor Hallal, who has lost several friends, says his country has been a laboratory for everything that would be done wrong during a pandemic. The result, consistent with his research, is 400,000 deaths that would be avoided, 1 / 4 of them (100,000) caused by the failure to sign vaccine contracts last year.
“Everything that you simply shouldn’t do,” he said “Brazil has done.”
Professor Hallal, who has given evidence at the inquiry, features a message for the Brazilian leader. “Just quit your job,” he said. “This is the neatest thing you’ll do to assist Brazil.”
There’s little likelihood of that, but Jair Bolsonaro is struggling on several fronts. While the Senate inquiry isn’t expected to steer to his impeachment, the Supreme Court has authorized a criminal investigation. His approval ratings are at rock bottom and there are a series of nationwide protests.
If President Bolsonaro is troubled by the gathering storm, or the soaring price , he isn’t showing it. He has political allies and die-hard supporters.
With numerous deaths, Cida de Moura struggles to know how he remains in office. “He remains in power as if nothing went on ,” she told us. “He should be pushed out. I might wish to hear that Bolsonaro isn’t president of Brazil any longer .”
Like many of the bereaved she is hoping that Brazil’s dead will speak, and there’ll be a reckoning at elections next year, if not before.