Omicron variant is ‘worry, but not despair’, according to Queiroga

Health Minister Marcelo Querioga said this Monday (29) that omicron, a new variant of the coronavirus, “is of concern, but not despair.” The statement was made during an event, in Salvador, to sign a contract with Pfizer for the purchase of 100 million doses of vaccines against Covid-19.

The minister mentioned the country’s vaccination schedule when talking about the new strain. “We have the peace of mind of facing the unpredictability of a dangerous enemy, which is the new coronavirus,” he said.

“Three days ago, a new variant was announced, which was initially described in South Africa, the omicron variant. And I said: ‘It is a variant of worry, but not despair,'” he said. “It’s not a variant of despair because we have health authorities committed to quality care.”

Over the weekend, Queriga said that the precautions that the population should take in relation to the omicron variant, initially identified in South Africa, are the same applied to other Covid strains that are already circulating around the world.

“I would like to reassure all Brazilians because care with this variant is the same care with other variants. The main weapon we have to face this situation is our immunization campaign”, he highlighted in a live on social networks.

The Secretary of Health Surveillance of the Ministry of Health, Arnaldo Medeiros, stressed that, in addition to immunization, people need to continue adopting non-pharmacological measures and even avoid traveling to places where the new strain is circulating to avoid contamination.

“Given the mutations that could confer the ability to escape an immune response, and give it an advantage in terms of transmissibility, the probability that the omicron will spread around the world is high,” the WHO said Monday. So far, there has been no record of death associated with the variant.

On the purchase of vaccines, Queiroga said at the event in Salvador, that the ministry has a remaining 134 million vaccine from 2021 for use next year, plus 100 million doses from Pfizer, with the chance to expand to purchase more 50 million, and 120 million from AstraZeneca, totaling at least 354 million doses. Coronavac, produced in the country by the Butantan Institute, is not on the list cited by the government.​

Last week, the sheet showed that the Ministry of Health plans to purchase 220 million doses of vaccines against Covid-19 for the 2022 immunization campaign. The projected investment is R$ 11 billion. The folder estimates that 340 million vaccines will be needed for next year.

According to the minister, integration between several ministries was necessary for the signing of this Monday’s contract. “Relocation was made [do Ministério da Cidadania] of R$ 7 billion to acquire this reinforcement for the National Vaccination Program”, he stated.

The Ministry of Health asked the team of Minister Paulo Guedes (Economy) to increase R$ 1.4 billion in the 2021 budget to guarantee the purchase of 100 million Pfizer vaccines for the 2022 campaign.

The extra resource, which must be within the spending ceiling — a rule that limits the increase in public spending — would be used to pay 20% in advance of the R$ 7 billion contract with Pfizer, an imposition by the pharmaceutical in negotiating for doses.

Pfizer said in a statement that it does not comment on details of the negotiations it has with the government.

“It is the government’s reaffirmation of the end of the pandemic,” stated the minister, who was next to João Roma, incumbent on the Ministry of Citizenship.

Queiroga denied that there was a delay in the purchase of vaccines and criticized what he called “false narratives” about the delay in immunization against Covid-19 in the country.