São Paulo will have xepa of the vaccine against Covid for babies; see rules

The UBSs (Basic Health Units) in the city of São Paulo will start on Wednesday (16) the registration of children aged 6 months to 2 years, 11 months and 29 days in the xepa line for vaccination against Covid-19.

Immunization will start on Thursday (17) for children in this age group with comorbidities – immunosuppressed and with permanent disabilities – or who are indigenous, and the others will be vaccinated when there are remaining doses.

The xepa is a way to take advantage of the immunization bottles that are not fully used in the UBSs until the end of the day. In the case of the Pfizer Baby vaccine, the only one approved for this public, each vial has 10 doses and the period of use after dilution is 12 hours. If not given, these vaccines have to be discarded.

According to the city hall, to get immunization at xepa, the person in charge needs to register the child’s name at the UBS closest to home and present proof of address. If there is a dose remaining at the end of the workday, the unit’s team will contact you by phone to apply the vaccine before the clinic closes.

Children must be accompanied by their parents or guardians at the time of vaccination and an identification document and vaccination record must be presented.

In the case of children with comorbidities, it is necessary to present proof of risk condition, that is, prescriptions, physical or digital reports or other documents that attest to the foreseen conditions. The documents must contain the child’s identification, the doctor’s stamp with the registration number in the CRM (Regional Council of Medicine) and be within the validity of two years of issuance.

Children with severe primary immunodeficiency will be considered immunosuppressed; in chemotherapy; solid organ or hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients; using immunosuppressive drugs; living with HIV/AIDS; or using doses equal to or greater than 20 mg/day of prednisone or equivalent for more than 14 days.

This group also includes children using Methotrexate, Leflunomide, Mycophenolate mofetil, Azatyprine; Cyclophosphamide, Cyclosporine, Tacrolimus, 6-mercaptopurine, Infliximab, Etanercept, Humira, Adalimumab, Tocilizumab, Canakinumab, Golimumab, Certolizumab, Abatacept, Secukinumab, Ustekinumab, Tofacitinib, Baracitinib or Upadacitinib; with inflammatory bowel diseases; on hemodialysis; and with chronic inflammatory immune-mediated diseases.

The vaccination schedule will be three doses. The second application should be four weeks (28 days) apart from the first dose, and the third should be given eight weeks (56 days) after the second dose. According to the Ministry of Health, Pfizer Baby can be applied simultaneously with the other vaccines in the National Vaccination Calendar.

The UBSs will be closed this Monday (14) and Tuesday (15) due to the Proclamation of the Republic holiday and will resume service on Wednesday (14). The service is available from Monday to Friday, from 7 am to 7 pm. In the integrated UBSs, there is also vaccination on Saturdays, from 7 am to 7 pm. The complete list of health units can be found at http://prefeitura.sp.gov.br/vacinasampa.