(Brasilia) Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro benefited from a “fake” vaccination certificate against COVID-19, an investigation by the Office of the Comptroller General of Brazil revealed on Thursday, which however recommends closing the case.
In his investigation, Brazil’s controller points to inconsistencies between documents from the Brazilian Ministry of Health and Mr. Bolsonaro’s vaccination record, which indicates that the former head of state was administered a dose of vaccine against COVID-19 in Sao Paulo in July 2022.
Thus, “concerning the vaccination carried out in Sao Paulo – the only document which appears in the ex-president’s vaccination record – […] the conclusion is that this is a fraud of the COVID-19 vaccination registration system,” the monitoring body said in a statement.
The investigation thus concludes that the COVID-19 vaccination certificate from which Mr. Bolsonaro received is “false”.
However, she recommends closing the case “for lack of sufficient evidence” to find those responsible, after noting that a number of officials could enter false data, having access to the vaccination computer system.
This investigation notably aimed to determine whether federal officials had falsified Mr. Bolsonaro’s vaccination record.
During his mandate (2019-2022), the far-right leader continued to criticize anti-COVID-19 vaccines, ensuring that he did not intend to be immunized against the pandemic which caused more than 700,000 dead in Brazil. He later admitted that he had not been vaccinated.