SP starts to vaccinate against Covid all children aged 3 to 4 years

In the week of the elections, the Government of São Paulo will expand the vaccination against Covid-19 to the public between 3 and 4 years old. In the state, immunization was restricted to children in this age group with comorbidities. The scheme is scheduled to start on the 30th.

The measure was possible because the Butantan Institute, an agency linked to the Department of Science, Research and Development in Health, donated 2 million doses of Coronavac.

In São Paulo, the vaccination schedule for this target audience began on July 20. Days earlier, the Ministry of Health had recommended vaccinating children aged 3 to 5 years with Coronavac.

“This is another important step in the vaccination campaign in São Paulo. We are the state that most vaccinates in Brazil and now it is an opportunity to immunize all children in this age group with the production and new doses distributed by the Butantan Institute”, says the coordinator of the State Immunization Plan, Regiane de Paula.

According to the São Paulo government, the Ministry of Health had not made sufficient doses available to vaccinate the entire population of the state and country. From there, the Butantan Institute imported IFA (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) and concluded last week the production of 3.5 million doses.

The federal government bought 1 million. Of the amount, 215 thousand doses are destined for the state of São Paulo.

So that the state could vaccinate the entire population, Butantan donated another 2 million doses to the State Health Department.

“Coronavac is considered safe by Anvisa for children aged 3 and 4 years. Our immunizer is the most used among the population aged 3 to 17 years, as a result of its safety and the few reactions. The data indicate that it is a very effective vaccine and can prevent the disease from evolving. We still have high numbers of hospitalizations of children and serious sequelae that can be avoided. It is essential that parents and guardians take their children to be immunized”, highlights the director of the Butantan Institute, Dimas Covas.

Pediatrician Mônica Levi, director of the Brazilian Society of Immunizations (SBIm), says that there is no preventive medicine against Covid-19 for this age group.

“The only non-pharmacological tool we have is the vaccine. The sooner we vaccinate, the better. Most of the hospitalized Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, ICU cases and deaths are unvaccinated”, he says.

The vaccine also protects against pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome (SIM-P), a serious complication in children, and long-term Covid.

The vaccination schedule indicated by Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) is the same as for the rest of the population: same dosage and 28-day interval between the first and second dose.

As of 3 pm on September 28, in the capital of São Paulo, of the 311,886 children aged 3 and 4 years old, 90,161 had been vaccinated against Covid-19.