Hyderabad: The Brazilian government, which agreed to purchase 20 million doses of Bharat Biotechs COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin, on Wednesday announced the suspension of the contract following allegations of irregularities in the deal.
“By recommendation of @CGUonline, we decided to temporarily suspend the Covaxin contract.
According to CGU’s preliminary analysis, there are no irregularities in the contract, but, due to compliance, the @minsaude opted to suspend the contract for further analysis,” Brazil Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga tweeted.
#URGENTE💉💉|
Por recomendação da @CGUonline, decidimos suspender temporariamente o contrato da Covaxin. Pela análise preliminar da CGU, não há irregularidades no contrato, mas, por compliance, o @minsaude optou por suspender o contrato para uma análise mais aprofundada.— Marcelo Queiroga (@mqueiroga2) June 29, 2021
The Covaxin contract to Brazil landed in controversy after the South American country’s Attorney General reportedly launched a probe into the deal.
“It is noteworthy that the @govbr did not pay ANY CENT for the Covaxin vaccine. The measure does not compromise the pace of the vaccination campaign against #Covid19 in Brazil, since there is no approval from Anvisa for emergency or definitive use of the immunizing agent,” Queiroga said in another tweet.
However, the Indian drugmaker was not immediately available for comment. –PTI
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