Rio suspends 1st dose of vaccine against Covid for children aged 3 and 4 years due to lack of immunization

The city of Rio de Janeiro interrupted this Wednesday (26) the application of the first dose of the vaccine against Covid-19 in children aged 3 and 4 years.

According to the municipal secretary of Health, Daniel Soranz, the suspension occurs due to the lack of Coronavac, an immunizing agent authorized by Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) for this public.

The Ministry of Health informed, through a note, that it is negotiating with the Butantan Institute for the acquisition of more doses for this age group.

This acquisition, according to the folder, takes into account the rate of vaccination of this public and the advance in the number of doses applied, which currently stands at about 40% in the country.

According to data from the Municipal Health Department, since July 15, about 46,000 boys and girls have been immunized, which represents a vaccination coverage of 28%. Thus, there are about 116,000 children in this age group who have not received their first dose.

The secretariat, however, guarantees that the application of the second dose for those who have already received the first is guaranteed with the vaccine reserved specifically for this purpose. Coronavac’s immunizer for this age group is used with a two-dose schedule within 28 days.

Secretary Soranz said that he contacted the Ministry of Health several times in the last three months to send new doses, but so far he has not received a return on the delivery forecast.

“Since the beginning of the campaign, we had already alerted the Ministry of Health that the number of doses sent would not vaccinate even 20% of the 3 and 4-year-old target audience. As expected, the Coronavac vaccine ended. three months the secretariat officiates the Ministry of Health, to receive more doses and adjust this distribution. But unfortunately this did not happen”.

Soranz said that he also requested the sending of the children’s Pfizer, approved a month ago by Anvisa for children aged 6 months to 4 years. However, the Ministry of Health has not yet given any estimate of purchase or distribution of this immunizer.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Covid-19 has killed two children under the age of 5 a day in Brazil, according to a study by Fiocruz. In all, 599 children in this age group died from the disease in 2020. In 2021, when Covid’s lethality increased across the population, the number of child victims jumped to 840.

Polio

The vaccination situation related to poliomyelitis also worries the capital of Rio de Janeiro. The secretary pointed out that about 140,000 children have not yet been vaccinated against the disease in the city of Rio and stressed that the vaccine is available in all health units in the municipality.

“We have never experienced such low vaccination coverage for everything. Polio vaccination coverage is at 55%, the lowest since our eradication in 1989. We again appeal to all parents and guardians to take their children to the health posts to update the vaccination book”, said the secretary.