Bolsonaro indicted for COVID vaccination card fraud

On Tuesday (Mar. 19), the Federal Police indicted former President Jair Bolsonaro for involvement in fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination cards. In January, the Office of the Comptroller-General (CGU) concluded that the record of immunization against the disease on Bolsonaro’s vaccination card was false. The investigation stemmed from a request made under the Access to Information Act (LAI) at the end of 2022.

According to the Ministry of Health’s current data displayed on the vaccination card, the former president received his vaccine on July 19, 2021, at the Parque Peruche Basic Health Unit (UBS) in the north of São Paulo. However, the CGU discovered that Bolsonaro was not in São Paulo on that date, and the vaccination batch listed in the ministry’s system was not available at the UBS on that date, where the immunization would have purportedly occurred.

Notícias relacionadas:

• First defendant accused of financing pro-coup acts faces indictment.
• Investigation concludes Bolsonaro’s vaccination record is false.

On social media X (formerly Twitter), Bolsonaro’s lawyer Fabio Wajngarten criticized the publication of the indictment. “Leaks continue to flow, or rather, to pour in liters. It is regrettable when authorities use the press to announce a formal act that should logically have a technical and procedural basis, rather than being presented in a media-centric and biased manner,” he wrote.

Former aide-de-camp indicted

Colonel Mauro Cid, Bolsonaro’s former aide-de-camp, was also indicted by the police. He is accused of issuing fake COVID-19 vaccination cards to the former president and his family members.