City of São Paulo opens xepa of Covid vaccine for children

The xepa of vaccine against Covid-19, that is, the use of doses left over at the end of the day, will return to health units in the city of São Paulo. The measure was announced on Tuesday night (19) by the prefecture and will be adopted, from this Wednesday (20), at the beginning of the immunization of children aged 3 and 4 years.

For now, vaccination against the new coronavirus in this age group in the capital of São Paulo will be for those who have comorbidities or permanent disabilities (physical, sensory or intellectual), in addition to indigenous people. It is estimated that about 15,000 children are part of the group, according to the Municipal Health Department.

However, the folder says that parents or guardians can register other children aged 3 and 4 years in the UBSs (Basic Health Units) waiting for remaining vaccines.

For this, it is necessary to leave a contact phone and live close to the medical center or that the child is enrolled in a school in the neighborhood, because, if close to the closing time of the unit, doses are left in the vials, those responsible will be called for vaccination in the same place. day.

Once the vials are opened, the doses expire after eight hours, hence the call to those who are registered to apply what is left over.

In order for the child to receive the vaccine, those responsible must bring an identification document (preferably with CPF) of the minor, according to the city hall.

In the case of comorbidities, it is necessary to present proof such as prescriptions or physical or digital reports, as long as there is patient identification, CRM with the doctor’s stamp and validity of two years of issuance.

The vaccination schedule indicated with Coronavac is the same as for the rest of the population: same dosage and 28-day interval between the first and second dose.

The emergency use of the Coronavac vaccine for those who are 3 or 4 years old was authorized by Anvisa (Sanitary Surveillance Agency) on the 13th. Vaccination was recommended by the Ministry of Health two days later.

In the capital of São Paulo, the city hall said that there are 314 thousand children of the new age group able to be vaccinated. In the state, there are about 1.1 million children.

This Tuesday (19), the Ministry of Health said that the federal government plans to reallocate the doses of Coronavac between the states to make it possible to vaccinate children aged 3 and 4 years against Covid, in an attempt to guarantee the supply of units of the Federation that complain about the lack of immunizers to meet this target audience.

Since the use of Coronavac was released by Anvisa, some units of the Federation stated that they do not have enough doses to start vaccinating the new target audience. There are about 5.6 million children aged 3 and 4 years old in the country.

In the capital of São Paulo, since last Friday (15), children can take the vaccine against Covid-19 along with other immunizers from the National Vaccination Calendar. Until then, it was necessary to wait at least 15 days. The Municipal Health Department says it made the change after a recommendation from the Ministry of Health.

The expectation of the municipal folder is that with this new rule there will be an expansion of the vaccination coverage of other diseases, since, when the child is immunized against Covid, he will be able to have the vaccination card updated.

According to a balance released this Tuesday by the city hall, 93.9% of children between 5 and 11 years old have already taken the first dose of the vaccine against the coronavirus in the city of São Paulo. Coverage with the second dose reached 73.1% of the target audience, estimated at around 1.1 million people.