Health starts distributing Covid vaccine to children under 3 with comorbidities

The Ministry of Health started this Thursday (10) the distribution of 1 million doses of pediatric vaccine against Covid-19 for children aged between six months and three years with comorbidities.

The diseases considered as priorities for vaccination, according to a letter sent to the state health secretaries this Wednesday (9), include diabetes, severe lung diseases, arterial hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, chronic neurological diseases and chronic kidney disease. See the complete list.

According to the folder, the Pfizer immunizer vials, which arrived in Brazil on October 27, should be sent to all states and the Federal District by this Friday (11), in the following proportion:

According to the technical note signed on October 31 on the use of the immunizer, children in this age group with comorbidities should receive three doses of the vaccine. The initial two should be given four weeks apart, and the third after a period of at least eight weeks from the second dose.

As a way of differentiating the immunizer from those offered to other age groups, the flasks with doses for this public have a wine-colored lid. For children from 5 to 11 years old, the lid is orange and, for the public over 12 years old, purple.

The use of different cap colors is a strategy to avoid administration errors, as the product requires different dosages depending on the age of the children. This facilitates identification by vaccination teams and those responsible for the little ones.

The Ministry of Health says that children can take the Covid vaccine separately or with other vaccines on the calendar. This means that, once the doses are available in the municipality, it is not necessary to wait to give the vaccine against Covid with some other immunizing agent and it is possible to take advantage of the trip to the health post to update the vaccination card.

As for the vaccination of the youngest without comorbidities, the ministry does not offer a start date for the campaign. “With the end of the Public Health Emergency of National Importance (ESPIN), the possibility of increasing doses for children in this age group without comorbidities should be evaluated by the National Commission for the Incorporation of Technologies in the SUS (Conitec)”, says the ministry in note.

For children aged 3 and 4 years, the approved vaccine is Coronavac, and cities such as Rio de Janeiro and Recife have suspended vaccination due to lack of the immunizer. The government claims that it is in talks to buy more doses.