New Delhi (NVI): Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has appointed his fourth Health Minister since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Marcelo Queiroga, a cardiologist, will replace Army General Eduardo Pazuello who had held the job for less than a year, according to the media reports.
The Brazilian President made the announcement in an address on late Monday at the presidential palace in Brasilia.
“The appointment of Dr. Marcelo Queiroga to the Ministry of Health was decided this afternoon, he is president of the Brazilian Society of Cardiology.” he was quoted by the G1 news portal.
“He is not a person I have known for a few days. He has everything it takes to do a good job, following up on everything Pazuello has done until today,” Bolsonaro added.
The President also said that Queiroga will choose his working team and a transition will take place in one or two weeks.
This new appointment of Health Minister comes at the time when the number of Covid-19-related deaths in Brazil approaches 2,80,000.
The outgoing Pazuello had faced intense criticism for slow vaccine rollout and was under investigation for alleged neglect that contributed to the collapse of the health care system earlier this year in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
He was appointed as health minister in May last year, while Brazil’s former health minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta was dismissed from the post in April, 2020 and was replaced by Nelson Teich. However, Teich resigned a few weeks later and Pazuello became interim health minister and was permanently appointed to the post, the reports said.
Meanwhile, Brazil has the second highest number of coronavirus infections and deaths in the world, behind the US. The country has crossed 11.5 million-mark and stand at 11,519,609, the John Hopkins University data shows.
-RJV
