Vaccination against Covid in the private network skates with waiting and lack of rules

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Rio de Janeiro, Recife, Salvador, Curitiba, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte and Sao Paulo

While São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have already started immunization against Covid in the private network, in clinics and pharmacies, in other Brazilian capitals the sector is still awaiting clearer regulation on the subject and an increase in the number of interested parties before ordering the first batch.

In the capital of São Paulo, private clinics have adopted several policies to vaccinate against Covid-19. Immunization in these places began at the beginning of the month.

The report contacted more than 20 establishments and only four reported that they have already started vaccination against Covid – some already have the immunizer, but are still waiting to form a group of ten interested parties to open a vial of the vaccine.

It is possible to find different instructions for the application of the immunizer. At Clivan, a clinic located in Pompeii (West Zone), anyone over 18 is eligible to receive the fourth dose without a prescription — the establishment only requires a four-month break from the third dose.

Vaccinar, in Brooklyn (south zone), follows the guidelines of the Ministry of Health and vaccines with the second dose only people over 50 years old. Such as Sheet revealed, the folder should announce next week the expansion of the measure for people over 40 years of age.

Laboratories, such as Fleury and those of the Dasa group, still do not have the immunizing agent.

Among pharmacies, the vaccine is found at Drogaria São Paulo. The Moema (south zone) and Sumaré (west zone) units report that the search has been carried out, mainly, by people over 50 years old. The Paulista unit says that 32 people were immunized last weekend, and the demand was mainly among those between 18 and 49 years old.

Jamal Suleiman, an infectious disease specialist at the Emílio Ribas Institute, does not see the possibility of vaccination taking hold in the private network at this time.

“Vaccines are the same as the public network”, he says. “Why would I trade a place where I get the vaccine for free for one where I have to pay?”

At the end of May, Abvac (Brazilian Association of Vaccine Clinics) estimated that the price of the immunizer would be between R$ 300 and R$ 350 reais for the consumer, due to costs with logistics and storage.

In the state, 94% of the population eligible for immunization, over five years old, have already completed the basic vaccine cycle — with two doses or a single dose. Until this Thursday (16), 31 million additional doses have already been applied – the number adds up to both the third and fourth doses.

Geraldo Barbosa, president of Abcvac, analyzes that vaccination, in general, has suffered a drop and compares the situation with that of the flu vaccine. “We are in a cold period and we have not even reached 50% of influenza coverage”, he says, who also attributes the lower demand to the lack of incentives and publicity from the Ministry of Health.

Another factor for low demand is the economic crisis. “Every time they have a pinch, people put off investing in protection.”

For Barbosa, with the new high in Covid cases, the private market could be helping to speed up vaccination. But, without a clear position from the ministry, there is “insecurity for the investor and the clinic, because there is no clear rule on who will be able to use it”.

“We ended up using the same rules as the public service, which was never the logic of the private service, which has always served to complement and accelerate vaccination”, he explains.

In Rio de Janeiro, the demand for vaccine in pharmacies in the city is considered moderate by professionals who serve large chains. At a Pacheco store on Nossa Senhora de Copacabana avenue, at least one vaccine against the influenza virus is administered per day, and the search reaches ten customers per store, according to the pharmacist in charge.

The application against Covid sounds like a novelty among attendants, and the recommendation of professionals has been to go to the health post.

In Belo Horizonte, the main clinics that work in the immunization sector do not work, at least so far, with the vaccine for the coronavirus. The justification given in one of them is that the SUS (Unified Health System) already provides the immunizing agent against the disease.

Abcvac, however, says that at least three clinics in the capital of Minas Gerais already have and apply doses of the vaccine, but did not specify which ones. The report contacted Drogaria Pacheco located in downtown Belo Horizonte, which reported that it has the immunizing agent.

In Recife, whose state reached one of the highest occupancy rates of ICUs in the country last week, at 72%, vaccination against Covid-19 does not take place in the main pharmacy and laboratory chains. Establishments only apply flu immunizations. The scenario is similar in the metropolitan region of Recife.

Sincofarma-PE (Union of Retail Pharmaceutical Products of Pernambuco) attributes the lack of vaccination against Covid in pharmacies to specific health surveillance requirements for vaccination facilities in these establishments.

“For now, only those who are succeeding are via injunction [na Justiça]. They [da vigilância] they didn’t understand that this is a service provided”, says Ozeas Gomes, president of the union. “We are negotiating”, he says.

Vaccination for Covid-19 in the private network also did not advance in Bahia. The report consulted three pharmacy chains and two private laboratories that reported that they are not yet offering the service in the state.

In the public network, on the other hand, the search for the third and fourth doses of the vaccine has grown since the last week with the high number of Covid cases in the state. Vaccination points faced long lines on Tuesday (14), as was the case at the 5th Clementino Fraga Health Center, in Barris, in Salvador.

In Porto Alegre, the coronavirus vaccine is not being sold in pharmacy chains. In one of the main ones, Panvel, there is still no forecast of arrival of the immunizer.

The only clinic in Porto Alegre contacted that said it would offer the immunizer is MDC Vacinas. She has been registering interested parties since the beginning of the month and is about to reach the minimum one hundred interested parties to place the first order.

According to the clinic, the most interested are bedridden patients with difficulty obtaining the vaccine at home through the public network and people immunized with Coronavac, who intend to travel abroad and are afraid of not having the vaccination accepted.

In Curitiba, the Municipal Health Department has not received any request for private vaccination services (pharmacies or clinics) for the application of doses against Covid-19.

To make the vaccine available, prior authorization from the Division of Immunobiologicals of the folder is needed, “for pharmacovigilance and the registration of doses applied”, informed the city hall, in a note.

Isabella Menon Mariana Moreira, José Matheus Santos, João Pedro Pitombo, Mauren Luc, Caue Fonseca, Leonardo Augusto

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