Coronavirus: protesters in Brazil call for impeachment of Jair Bolsonaro over vaccine corruption

Protests against President Jair Bolsonaro spread across Brazil on Saturday, a day after a Supreme Court justice authorised a criminal investigation into his response to allegations of potential corruption involving a vaccine deal.

Demonstrators gathered by the hundreds or thousands in more than 40 cities to demand Bolsonaro’s impeachment or greater access to vaccines against Covid-19.

“If we have a minute of silence for each Covid death, we would be quiet until June 2022,” read a poster held aloft by a man in Belem, the capital of Para state. More than half a million Brazilians have died, by official count.

In Friday’s decision, Supreme Court Justice Rosa Weber said the investigation is supported by recent testimony in a Senate committee investigating the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Prosecutors will investigate whether Bolsonaro committed the crime of “prevarication,” which entails delaying or refraining from action required as part of a public official’s duty for reasons of personal interest. Weber did not rule out the possibility other potential wrongdoing could be investigated.

The inquiry comes after Luis Ricardo Miranda, the chief of the Health Ministry’s import division, said he faced undue pressure to sign off on the import of 20 million vaccines from Indian pharmaceutical Bharat Biotech. He said there were irregularities in the invoices – particularly a $45 million upfront payment to a Singapore-based company.