Had he
lived Josildo de Moura would have celebrated his 40th wedding anniversary this
December. Instead, the devoted husband and father of five died of Covid in May,
gasping for breath outside a neighbourhood clinic on the outskirts of São
Paulo. He was 62, and like the vast majority of Brazilians, still waiting to be
vaccinated.
"The
pain is endless," says his wife Cida, sitting at her kitchen table, ringed
by her children and grandchildren. "And every day we hear about more
families suffering as we suffer, losing a loved one."
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The losses
here are staggering. More than half a million Brazilians have died with
Covid-19, the second highest death toll worldwide, behind only the United
States. Experts here predict their country is on course to overtake the US.
"He
could have helped everybody take the right measures," says Cida, who has
an unwavering voice, and tight grey curls. "He did the complete opposite.
He didn't have respect for the people. It's really revolting."
Even as
Brazil is still burying its dead, the handling of the pandemic is being
dissected by the Brazilian senate. The hearings, which began in April, are
broadcast live. For many here they have become must-watch TV, a kind of
telenovela of tragedy and explosive testimony.
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Evidence
from a representative of the vaccine manufacturer, Pfizer was particularly
damning. He told the inquiry the company repeatedly offered to sell the government
vaccines last year.
It was
ignored - for months. Over 100 emails were unanswered.
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.
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"What
saves lives is two jabs in the arms of Brazilians," he told us. "If
the government had bought vaccines early, we would have saved a lot of lives.
We have a President who does not believe in science. He believes in herd
immunity." The senator insists his inquiry is not partisan. "The
virus does not choose political parties," he told us. "Everyone is
dying."
He has
scorned social distancing, insisting the economy must remain open, and said
staying home is "for idiots". Just last month he was fined for not
wearing a mask as he led a motorbike rally of his supporters.
As the
president has minimized the risks, Professor Pedro Hallal has counted the dead.
He is an epidemiologist, leading the largest Covid study in Brazil. As a
scientist, and as a Brazilian, he says it has been a waking nightmare.
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"At some point in life everyone has that dream in which they can't move, or can't shout," he says. "This is exactly my feeling for these 16 months. I have been trained to understand what is happening in a pandemic and I say that and no one in 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 could be done wrong in a pandemic. The result, according to
his research, is 400,000 deaths that could have been avoided, a quarter of them
(100,000) caused by the failure to sign vaccine contracts last year.
"Everything
that you should not do," he said "Brazil has done."
"It
said that the pandemic would not be important. In April last year, our
president said it is coming to an end. Then he said the vaccines were not safe.
These statements from the president himself produced damage, and they killed
people and this is what needs to be said."
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Professor
Hallal, who has given evidence at the inquiry, has a message for the Brazilian
leader. "Just quit your job," he said. "This is the best thing
you can do to help Brazil."
There's
little likelihood of that, but Jair Bolsonaro is under pressure on several
fronts. While the Senate inquiry is not expected to lead to his impeachment,
the Supreme Court has authorized a criminal investigation. His approval ratings
are at an all-time low and there have been a series of nationwide protests.
If
President Bolsonaro is troubled by the gathering storm, or the soaring death
toll, he isn't showing it. He has political allies and die-hard supporters.
With so
many dead, Cida de Moura struggles to understand how he remains in office.
"He is still in power as if nothing has happened," she told us.
"He should have been pushed out. I would like to hear that Bolsonaro is
not president of Brazil any more."
Like many
of the bereaved she is hoping that Brazil's dead will speak, and there will be
a reckoning at elections next year, if not before.
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