Corona scandal about "wind vaccinations": Seniors in Brazil only seemingly vaccinated - videos reveal fraud

The principle sounds comfortable at first: drive up by car and get a corona vaccination.

For some older people this turned out to be a fatal hoax.

• In Brazil, too, the Covid-19 vaccine is currently only assigned to certain groups.

• Those entitled to the vaccination are apparently cheated on protection with a certain scam.

• The

  evening news

  , according to videos revealed the corona scandal.

Rio de Janeiro - In Brazil, seniors are said to have been vaccinated against corona only to appear.

This practice is called “wind vaccination” in the media.

"It's about individual cases, but some are pretty clear," reports a

Tagesschau

reporter.

The procedure: The elderly would get a puncture in the upper arm - but the vaccination assistants did not press the plunger of the syringe down.

Some of the syringes are empty anyway.

Corona car vaccination streets in Brazil: Videos of the fraud recorded from the passenger seat

In Brazil, the vaccine * against Covid-19 * is administered to the report through the open car door - in the "auto vaccination streets" while the patients remain seated.

“The relatives like to film this from the driver's seat, which in turn often cannot be seen by the vaccination workers.

In the past few days, videos showing the "wind vaccinations" have appeared again and again, they say.

"Wind vaccination" cases in Rio de Janeiro, in São Paulo, in Goiania, Maceió and in Manaus in the Amazon region have become so well known.

"You can find reports on a dozen cases in the Brazilian media."

Corona in South America: Strict vaccination sequence - but no evidence of the black market yet

In Brazil there is a strict vaccination sequence.

"It seems obvious that 'vaccine peoples' try to get the coveted syringe even though it's not yet their turn." However, there has not yet been any evidence of a vaccine black market - but scandals about vaccine users already in several countries in South America , they always revolved around the ministers of health in office there (Peru, Ecuador, Argentina), according to the

news

.

It is certain that the regular vaccinations in the whole of South America are only making slow progress - with the exception of Chile, which has now overtaken the USA in terms of initial vaccination rates.

"Tropical Trump" Bolsonaro and Corona: Brazil's President doubts the sense of vaccination

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro * played down the virus from the start, rejecting restrictions on public life and protective measures.

In the meantime, the right-wing populist politician - also dubbed "Tropical Trump" in allusion to Donald Trump - also fundamentally doubts the sense of vaccinations against Corona.

So far, more than 10.5 million people in Brazil have been shown to have been infected with the coronavirus - only in the USA and India are the numbers even higher.

Most recently, the country passed 250,000 deaths linked to the virus.

Despite the dramatic situation, the vaccination campaign only started there in January and was also marked by complications.

Corona mutation from Brazil is considered more contagious than the original variant

In view of the lack of vaccines, Rio and other important cities have even suspended vaccinations recently.

In addition, the mutation of the pathogen found in the Amazon region is considered to be more contagious than the original variant.

A ray of hope now: On Saturday (February 27th) an important shipment of raw materials for the production of 12.2 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine arrived in Rio de Janeiro, as reported by the Brazilian media.

The import of pharmaceuticals from China should mark the beginning of a success story - at least that is what many Brazilians hope for.

(frs with material from dpa)