‘It was expected that the Logistics Department would treat processes of high materiality and relevance with different priorities’, records the ruling
The Federal Audit Court (TCU) decided to open a hearing and summon former directors of the Department of Health Logistics (DLOG) of the Ministry of Health to investigate irregularities in the purchase and receipt of 10 million doses of the Coronavac vaccine, manufactured by the Butantan Institute. The delay in direct contracting and the acceptance of immunizations that had already expired resulted in the disposal of 7.9 million doses and an estimated loss of R$261.7 million to public coffers.
The rapporteur is Minister Bruno Dantas. The decision determines the hearing of Breno Vilela Costa (director of the Department of Health Logistics (DLOG) from 1/27/2023 to 5/3/2023), Odilon Borges de Souza (also director of DLOG from 5/3/2023 to 12/31/2023) and Thayssa Neiva da Fonseca Victer (general coordinator of Input Management and Cold Chain).
The records show that the purchase process began on February 24, 2023 with the aim of serving children aged 3 to 11 years in the multi-vaccination campaign scheduled for May/June. Contract 221/2023 was only signed on September 25, 2023 — more than seven months later. The vaccines only arrived in the Ministry of Health’s stocks on October 25th.
The TCU identified that the delay was mainly due to the slowness in preparing the Demand Formalization Document (DFD), the Risk Management Map and the legal opinions of the Legal Consultancy (Conjur). Even though Law 14,133/2021 was still optional at the time, the Ministry opted for the new rite without an adequate structure, which generated rework. The Court rejected the body’s justification that it was a “normative transition”, as another 59 simultaneous processes continued under Law 8,666/1993.
“It was expected that the Logistics Department would treat processes of high materiality and relevance with different priorities”, records the ruling.
Short validity
The Terms of Reference required that vaccines had not consumed more than 35% of their validity on the date of delivery. However, the doses delivered by Butantan had already consumed between 38.3% and 43.5% of the total term. The requirement for an “exchange letter” (commitment from the manufacturer to replace expiring doses) was waived by a simple email dated October 11, 2023, without a technical or legal opinion attached to the process and without analysis from higher levels.
The Butantan Institute had reported since March 2023 that it had 10 million doses ready. The delay in signing the contract meant that the vaccines arrived with a reduced validity, making their full use impossible.
Of the total purchased, only 2.08 million doses were distributed and 260,000 were applied across the country. The Ministry of Health attributed the losses to “multicausal factors” — misinformation, low demand, WHO recommendation for updated vaccines against Ômicron variants and vaccine hesitancy. The TCU recognizes these factors, but points out that the delay in delivery and the lack of an exchange guarantee significantly aggravated the waste.
The report also mentions that similar losses had already been the subject of previous inspections by the TCU (Rulings 2,123/2023 and 313/2023), with determinations to improve logistical planning and inventory control that were not enough to avoid the new episode.
What happens now
With the hearing decision, the former directors will have time to present a defense regarding two main irregularities:
Slowness in direct hiring – violation of the principle of efficiency (art. 37, caput, of the Constitution) and the powers of the DLOG provided for in Decree 11,358/2023.
Receipt authorization without exchange letter – decision made by email, without technical-legal support.
If the answers are not convincing, the TCU may apply sanctions such as fines, temporary disqualification and, if damage to the treasury is caused, determine compensation. The files will also be forwarded to the Federal Public Ministry if signs of administrative improbity are identified.
A Young Pan contacted the Ministry of Health. If there is a response, the text will be updated.
*Text produced with the help of AI
