Brazil senator files complaint against Bolsonaro over vaccines | Coronavirus pandemic News | Al Jazeera

An opposition senator in Brazil has filed a criminal complaint against far-right President Jair Bolsonaro with the country’s Supreme Court, urging an investigation into alleged irregularities in COVID-19 vaccine purchases.

The complaint came after a Senate commission investigating the government’s pandemic response uncovered explosive accusations last week that Bolsonaro knew about suspected corruption in Brazil’s $300m deal for Indian-made vaccine Covaxin and failed to intervene.

In a video released by his office, Senator Randolfe Rodrigues said he had filed a request for the Supreme Court to probe the president “on account of the serious allegations” and because Bolsonaro “did not take any action after being notified of the existence of a giant corruption scheme in the Health Ministry”.

The president’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bolsonaro, a COVID-19 sceptic who dismissed the virus as “a little flu” earlier in the pandemic, has faced mounting pressure for his government’s handling of the crisis. A Brazilian Senate commission launched an investigation in April.