See when to take the third dose of Covid vaccine in São Paulo

Anyone who was immunized with the second dose of the Covid vaccine for at least four months in the state of São Paulo and is over 18 years old can take the booster of the immunizing agent. This Thursday (2), the state government reduced by one month the minimum period between the two injections, which was five months.

The decision to anticipate, according to the João Doria government (PSDB), was taken by the emergence of the omicron variant of the new coronavirus, which has three confirmed cases in the state —two in the city of São Paulo and one in Guarulhos, in Greater São Paulo—, and because Brazil does not yet have the obligation to present a vaccine passport for those arriving in the country.

Earlier this week, the Municipal Health Department of São Paulo had already asked the Ministry of Health to reduce the period between the second dose and the booster in one month.

In São Paulo, it is estimated that 1.2 million people are able to take the third dose, according to the Ricardo Nunes (MDB) administration.

With the reduction in dates, residents of the city of São Paulo from 41 years old who were immunized with Coronavac can now take the booster. In the capital, the third dose is being made with Pfizer vaccines.

Anyone who took the two doses of Pfizer or AstraZeneca and is 59 years old or younger will be able to attend vaccination posts in São Paulo for the booster dose from January onwards.

The dates are not valid for those who presented a certificate of comorbidities to receive the first dose and therefore did not enter the calendar due to age.

Health and education professionals were given the booster dose previously released.

Those who took Janssen’s single-dose immunizer may receive the additional dose of the same immunizer at intervals of two months. If it is missing from the clinic, the vaccine can be replaced by Pfizer.

For physician Álvaro Furtado da Costa, an infectious disease specialist at the Hospital das Clínicas at USP (University of São Paulo), the measure is important. According to him, studies show that people have a drop in immune response over time.

“Especially for the elderly or people with comorbidities, the vaccine shakes the immune system,” he says. “It is, yes, an important strategy because we are seeing in Europe people with two doses getting sick.”

For Costa, the reinforcement in vaccination gains strength with the proximity of the end of the year festivities, because of the get-togethers, and the summer vacations.

According to the doctor, there are two challenges for governments. Convince those who have not yet taken the second dose to complete the vaccine cycle and apply the booster.

According to the São Paulo Health Department, about 3.9 million did not return to be vaccinated with the second dose in the state. In the capital, there are about 500 thousand absentees.

On Wednesday (1), the municipal secretary of Health, Edson Aparecido, said that about 1 million people who could have been immunized with the booster until that day were not taking the third dose.

Raquel Stucchi, an infectious disease specialist at Unicamp (University of Campinas) and consultant to the Brazilian Society of Infectology, thinks that reducing the interval can be interesting for the elderly and immunosuppressed, who lose the protection of the vaccine earlier. But she would not extend the anticipation to younger people for lack of scientific data.

The doctor cites the United Kingdom, which began to anticipate the deadline between the second dose and the boost for people over 60 years and will make an escalation for younger people. “But they [Europa] they are in a moment of despair,” he says. “The epidemiological moment in Brazil is very different.”

The state secretary of Health, Jean Gorinchteyn, defended the anticipation of the reinforcement. “The state has the logistical and technical conditions to expand vaccination and reduce the interval for applying doses so that everyone can be better protected”, he says.

See dates for reinforcement | Sao Paulo City

Coronavac

AstraZeneca

Pfizer

*The interval between the first and second doses of AstraZeneca went from 12 to 8 weeks on 10/27

**The interval between Pfizer’s first to second doses went from 12 to 8 weeks on 9/24

Source: City Hall of São Paulo