03/15/2021 10:23 PM
Clarín.com
World
Updated 03/15/2021 10:23 PM
The president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, appointed
cardiologist Marcelo Queiroga as Minister of Health on
Monday
, the fourth in less than a year
, at a time when the health system is on the verge of collapse due to the coronavirus pandemic that has already left
almost 280,000 dead in that country.
"It was decided now, in the afternoon, to appoint the doctor Marcelo Queiroga to the Ministry of Health," Bolsonaro told his supporters in front of the Alvorada palace, his residence in Brasilia.
The appointment
will take place on Tuesday
, when it is published in the official gazette and the transition "should take one or two weeks," he said.
Bolsonaro made the announcement shortly after meeting with Queiroga and the current minister, General Eduardo Pazuello, admitted that the far-right president was
seeking to replace him to "reorganize" that portfolio.
"The conversation [with Queiroga] was excellent," said Bolsonaro, who came into conflict with Pazuello's two predecessors, who
questioned the president's lack of "scientific" guidance
to face the pandemic.
Pazuello, for his part, had a military conception of his functions, faithfully abiding by Bolsonaro's guidelines:
"It's that simple: one commands and the other obeys,"
the general declared in October.
Queiroga "has everything to do a good job, giving
continuity to everything
Pazuello has done until today," said Bolsonaro.
Marcelo Queiroga chairs the Brazilian Society of Cardiology and on Tuesday he will take office as Minister of Health.
Photo EFE
The appointment of Queiroga,
president of the Brazilian Society of Cardiology (SBC)
, occurs at a time when the Government is the target of harsh criticism for
the chaotic handling of the health crisis
and for the denial of the head of state due to its seriousness.
The second wave of the pandemic is booming in Brazil with
more than 1,800 deaths per day on a
weekly
average
(compared to 703 at the beginning of the year), growth fueled by a new strain of the coronavirus,
at least twice as contagious.
For the epidemiologist Mauro Sanchez, from the University of Brasilia, the new minister will have the delicate task of trying to print a
"change of course"
in the health policy of Brazil, which has become the global epicenter of the pandemic.
"Without controlling the pandemic and with the emergence of new mutations, Brazil is perceived as a threat," Sanchez told the AFP agency.
The fact that Queiroga is a doctor does not guarantee the success of his mission, but in the current context "it brings a certain tranquility to the population and
gives them a certain legitimacy in office,
" he added.
Before leaving the ministry, Pazuello announced that the government bought 100 million doses of vaccine from Pfizer-BionTech, which must be submitted until September, and in the second half will
reach about
38 million doses of Janssen vaccine
, application unique, from the American pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson.
The completion of the purchase is vital to accelerate the vaccination campaign in Brazil, which has experienced a rise in deaths and infections since February, pushing hospitals in more than half of the 27 states to the brink of collapse and the governors to
order more restrictions on movement.
Jair Bolsonaro with the outgoing Minister of Health, Eduardo Pazuello.
AP Photo
With the purchases announced this Monday, Brazil has ordered
562.9 million doses of vaccines that must be delivered until the end of the year
, the outgoing minister said.
Pazuello replaced
Nelson Teich
in June 2020
, who had lasted less than a month in office and resigned for opposing, like his predecessor, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, the drugs promoted by Bolsonaro to treat the virus, without scientific verification of its effectiveness.
Both Teich and Mandetta, both doctors,
supported the confinement measures
promoted by the governors, but criticized by the president because of their economic impact.
Bolsonaro minimized the disease, promoted crowds without masks and
sowed doubts about the vaccines
, even saying that some of them could cause genetic alterations and turn a patient into an "alligator."
With information from AFP
LP
Look also
Pressured by the health crisis, the Bolsonaro government announced the purchase of 100 million doses of the vaccine from Pfizer and 38 million from Johnson & Johnson
San Pablo already lives with a curfew and closes schools: desperate call of the governors to Bolsonaro
