Political debate about vaccines/vaccination against COVID-19 in the 2021 pandemic Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry

Abstract

The objective of this work is to analyze the debate that took place in the Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry (PCI) established in the Federal Senate in 2021, regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. This is an exploratory qualitative study, based on the analysis of the PCI Report, specifically excerpts from the testimonies and debates that dealt with the production, acquisition and distribution of vaccines and vaccination against COVID-19. The results highlight the importance of the PCI as a political space that revealed the negligence and disregard with which the Federal Government dealt with the health crisis in the 2020-2021 period, giving a voice to authorities, researchers, representatives of scientific entities, social movements and families of COVID-19 victims. The indictments presented in their Final Report had no consequences in terms of accountability and punishment for the crimes identified. It is argued that the conflict surrounding the vaccine/vaccination against COVID-19 expresses disputes over health projects, especially the dispute between the mercantilist/privatist project and the Brazilian Health Reform project that defends the Unified Health System (SUS) and the National Immunization Program, concluding that there is a need for investments in technological production in health and in confronting scientific denialism in the area.