Ministry contradicted technicians by indicating Covid vaccine only for babies with comorbidities

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In yet another move by the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government against childhood vaccination, the Ministry of Health contradicted the guidance of its technical advisory chamber by indicating the vaccine against Covid-19 only for babies with comorbidities.

Members of the group — made up of members of the ministry and state and municipal health councils, as well as experts — say the vaccine is recommended for all babies aged between six months and four years, and not just for those with a risk factor. risk.

Last week, the ministry even said that it decided to release the vaccine only to children with comorbidities “on the recommendation of the CTAI (Technical Chamber of Immunization Advice)”. The information was reinforced by the Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, on Monday (17).

“Secretary Arnaldo, who is the secretary of health surveillance, took this issue, in addition to the specific technical area, to the advice of CTAI. From what he informed me, it would have been endorsed there, as if it were a preliminary measure, before the final evaluation by Anvisa, that this vaccine be offered to children in this age group who have comorbidities.”

Chamber advisors heard by the Sheet claim that the indication of the vaccine for all children had already been unanimously approved even before the decision of Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency). Even so, the orientation was reinforced in a meeting on October 4th.

According to them, the decision to prioritize children and adults with comorbidities was only taken at the beginning of vaccination due to lack of doses. The group adds that it reinforced to the ministry the need for all babies to be vaccinated against Covid, not just those with some risk factor.

For them, by announcing that the vaccine was authorized only for children with comorbidities —contrary to what Anvisa defined—, the Ministry of Health confuses the population and makes parents afraid to vaccinate their children, increasing resistance against the diseases. vaccines.

The report asked the Ministry of Health the date of the meeting in which CTAI would have recommended the vaccine only for children with comorbidities, but there was no response. The folder sent a new note about childhood vaccination, this time without the information that the guidance was from the technical chamber.

“In view of the decision of the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) and after hearing the Technical Advisory Chamber (CTAI), the Ministry of Health, in a precautionary way, authorized vaccination against Covid-19 in children aged 6 months and under. 4-year-old with some kind of comorbidity.”

The vaccination of children against the coronavirus was the target of Bolsonaro’s attacks during the pandemic and was even discouraged by the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights.

In December, when Anvisa gave approval for the application of the vaccine to children from the age of five, the president insinuated that the agency had “interests” in the decision and asked for the name of those involved to be disclosed, which triggered a wave of threats and attacks. against coaches and directors.

The ministry also convened, in an unprecedented way, a public hearing and consultation on the subject. The government raised the possibility of requiring a prescription to vaccinate children, which was rejected.

On Friday (14), the president lied when he claimed that the children did not die from Covid-19. “Kids don’t suffer from the virus… So much so that you saw a kid die of the virus around? Does anyone know any children of someone who died of the virus? There isn’t”, he said.

This year, until September 10, there were 12,100 hospitalizations and 439 deaths of children under five from coronavirus.

The Pfizer vaccine for children aged six months to four years was released by Anvisa on September 16, without restrictions, after technical analysis of data and clinical studies conducted by the laboratory.

The process involved consultation and monitoring by specialists from the Brazilian Association of Collective Health, the Brazilian Society of Pulmonology and Tisiology, the Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases, the Brazilian Society of Immunology and the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics.

On Monday, the ministry stated that the expectation is that the doses will arrive in Brazil next week. The federal government’s contract with Pfizer allows for adjustments in the type of vaccine to be received. It is estimated that today the country has a balance of about 35 million doses.

Asked about the issue at Monday’s event, the minister said that “all this has to be done responsibly.” The secretary of health surveillance, Arnaldo Medeiros, said that it is necessary to mitigate “possible vaccine errors”.

Brazil has about 13 million children between six months and four years old and, according to the vaccination schedule planned for this population, three doses will be needed (a total of 39 million doses).

However, as children between three and five years old can also be vaccinated with Coronavac, the number of doses needed of Pfizer’s vaccine would drop to 21 million, according to estimates by ministry technicians.

Read the full note sent to Folha on October 13:

The Ministry of Health, in view of the opinion given by the Legal Consultancy (Conjur) of the Ministry, will ask the National Commission for the Incorporation of Technologies in the SUS (Conitec) to evaluate the possible expansion of the use of the pediatric Comirnaty vaccine in children aged 6 months to under 4, recently approved by Anvisa. The decision is in line with the end of the Public Health Emergency of National Importance (Espin).

However, in view of the epidemiological scenario of Covid-19 in the country and on the recommendation of the Technical Chamber for Immunization Advice (CTAI), it was defined, in a precautionary way, to authorize the use of the vaccine for children aged 6 months to under 4 years. who present some type of comorbidity, while the Conitec analysis rite is carried out. All guidelines for the vaccination of this public will be published in a technical note.

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