RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Brazil’s government has not yet asked the United States for spare COVID-19 vaccines, according to two people with knowledge of the matter, despite Washington agreeing this week to send 4 million doses of AstraZeneca shots to Mexico and Canada.
The country’s Senate leader says he has requested U.S. help.
Brazil’s coronavirus death toll, nearly 300,000, is second only to the United States, and its health system is buckling under a record surge in cases. President Jair Bolsonaro, who has questioned the “rush” for vaccines, is under growing pressure to get a grip on an outbreak he once dubbed a “little flu.”
He has been criticized for a slow and patchy immunization program, which has led to a lack of vaccine supplies in Latin America’s biggest country. Earlier this month, his government asked the Chinese embassy to help secure 30 million doses from China to ensure its vaccine program does not grind to a halt.
Despite the United States agreeing this week to loan shots to Mexico and Canada, the Bolsonaro government has not yet asked Washington for vaccine supplies, said the two sources, who asked not to be named due to political sensitivities.
Neither the Brazilian president’s office nor the foreign ministry replied immediately to requests for comment. The U.S. State Department also did not respond immediately to questions.
U.S. President Joe Biden has come under pressure from countries around the world to share shots, particularly its stock of AstraZeneca vaccines, which are authorized for use elsewhere but not in the United States.
The president of the Brazilian Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, said he wrote to Vice President Kamala Harris asking the U.S. government to allow Brazil to buy surplus vaccines. That, he said on Twitter, would help boost vaccination of Brazilians.
The AstraZeneca vaccine, which is the centerpiece of the Brazilian federal government’s vaccine plan, has full regulatory approval in Brazil, meaning it could likely be used immediately.
This week, Bolsonaro’s political nemesis, former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, used a high-profile CNN interview to ask the U.S. government to share its vaccine stock with Brazil.
Lula’s comments – coming shortly after his graft convictions were annulled, allowing him to run in next year’s presidential election – pose a challenge to Bolsonaro, as any subsequent request could let his rival score political points.
Bolsonaro’s relationship with Biden also got off to a rocky start after he waited nearly a month and a half to recognize the results of the U.S. election last year. Bolsonaro enjoyed much warmer relations with Donald Trump, Biden’s predecessor and a political role model for the Brazilian president.
Almost eight out of 10 Brazilians think the pandemic is out of control in their country and more than half are “very afraid” they will get infected with coronavirus, a new Datafolha poll said.
(Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter; Additional reporting by Daphne Psaledakis in Washington; Editing by Brad Haynes, Marguerita Choy and Daniel Wallis)
OTTAWA – Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says the government is making some changes to mortgage rules to help more Canadians to purchase their first home.
She says the changes will come into force in December and better reflect the housing market.
The price cap for insured mortgages will be boosted for the first time since 2012, moving to $1.5 million from $1 million, to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment.
The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.
On Aug. 1 eligibility for the 30-year amortization was changed to include first-time buyers purchasing a newly-built home.
Justice Minister Arif Virani is also releasing drafts for a bill of rights for renters as well as one for homebuyers, both of which the government promised five months ago.
Virani says the government intends to work with provinces to prevent practices like renovictions, where landowners evict tenants and make minimal renovations and then seek higher rents.
The government touts today’s announced measures as the “boldest mortgage reforms in decades,” and it comes after a year of criticism over high housing costs.
The Liberals have been slumping in the polls for months, including among younger adults who say not being able to afford a house is one of their key concerns.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
OTTAWA – The head of a federal inquiry into foreign interference says she will not be publicly identifying parliamentarians suspected by a spy watchdog of meddling in Canadian affairs.
The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians raised eyebrows earlier this year with a public version of a secret report that said some parliamentarians were “semi-witting or witting” participants in the efforts of foreign states to meddle in Canadian politics.
Although the report didn’t name individuals, the blunt findings prompted a flurry of concern that members knowingly involved in interference might still be active in politics.
As inquiry hearings resume today, commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue cautions that the allegations are based on classified information, which means the inquiry can neither make them public, nor even disclose them to the people in question.
As a result, she says, the commission of inquiry won’t be able to provide the individuals with a meaningful opportunity to defend themselves.
However, Hogue adds, the commission plans to address the allegations in the classified version of its final report and make recommendations.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
OTTAWA – The judge overseeing the sexual assault trial of former vice-admiral Haydn Edmundson is reading his decision in an Ottawa court this morning.
Edmundson was the head of the military’s personnel in 2021 when he was accused of sexually assaulting a woman while they were deployed together back in 1991.
The trial was held in February, but the verdict has been delayed twice.
The complainant, Stephanie Viau, testified at trial that she was in the navy’s lowest rank at the time of the alleged assault and Edmundson was an officer.
Edmundson pleaded not guilty, and testified that he never had sexual contact with Viau.
He was one of several high-ranking military leaders accused of sexual misconduct in 2021, a scandal that led to an external report calling for sweeping changes to reform the culture of the Armed Forces.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024
