Health expands Covid vaccine for children aged 6 months to 4 years 4 days before the end of the Bolsonaro government

The Ministry of Health published this Tuesday (27) a recommendation to expand the vaccine against Covid to all children from six months old to four years old.

The pediatric vaccine produced by Pfizer was previously restricted to children in this age group with comorbidities. In the case of minors without comorbidities, some could be vaccinated through the vaccine xepa (the doses that remained in the bottles after opening and that could not be saved for the next day).

In Technical Note No. 399 of 2022, the Ministry of Health, through the General Coordination of the National Immunization Program (CGPNI), understood that the incidence of Covid in the population under 5 years of age today is higher than in age groups higher, and that in babies under one year old the incidence of mortality is up to eight times higher than in adolescents aged 15 to 19 years.

“Considering that vaccinating children aged 6 months to 4 years against Covid could prevent Sars-CoV-2 infections, hospitalizations, Srag [síndrome respiratória aguda grave] and deaths, in addition to complications such as SIM-P and post-Covid […] the General Coordination of the Immunizations Program recommends the vaccination of all children from 6 months to 4 years, 11 months 29 days of age with the Pfizer/BioNTech immunization”, says the note.

The note also reinforces the efficacy and safety of the vaccine, according to data from clinical trials and the application of the vaccine in several countries, and states that “the expansion of vaccination for this age group will provide greater security for parents whose children attend nurseries, schools and environments external”.

The publication comes four days before the end of the current government, which has been criticized by experts for delaying childhood vaccinations. Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga even appealed to parents to get their children vaccinated, but did not mention Covid.

At various times throughout the pandemic, he and President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) have discredited the vaccine.

In September, Anvisa approved Pfizer’s pediatric vaccine for babies aged 6 months to 4 years old, but Health had only included children with comorbidities in the campaign until then.

For Renato Kfouri, scientific director of immunizations at the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics, the expansion is late. “It’s a good thing it’s expanding to all children, but this comes without incentive measures and awareness campaigns about the safety and importance of vaccination”, he criticizes.

In addition to Pfizer, the Coronavac vaccine, produced by the Butantan Institute in partnership with the Chinese pharmaceutical Sinovac, was released for application in children aged 3 and 4 years. The termination of government contracts with the São Paulo institute, however, exhausted the doses of Coronavac and delayed the application of the second dose in several capitals in the country.

The elected government, however, intends to change that as of January 2, 2023. The vice-president-elect, Geraldo Alckmin, said at the beginning of the month that the government will start “with a large vaccination campaign as of January 2 January”. The resumption of the PNI and recovery of vaccine coverage of various immunizers, not just Covid, is one of Lula’s (PT) flags for his government.

The report sought Fiocruz’s press office to speak with Nísia Trindade, chosen by Lula to head the Health portfolio, but has yet to hear back.

RESTRICTION OF VIRAL VACCINES

In addition to the recommendation for vaccination in children, a second technical note, published this Tuesday (27), calls for the restriction of viral vector vaccines (AstraZeneca and Janssen) only for adults over 40 years of age, with other vaccines being administered preferentially in the population below. 40 years old.

According to the resolution, the decision is given for two main reasons: the more favorable epidemiological situation, with a large part of the population already vaccinated with the primary scheme (two doses or a single dose), and the occurrence, although rare, of adverse events serious conditions related to both vaccines, such as thrombosis with thrombocytopenia, a type of clot that can be formed after immunization with these vaccines and associated with low blood platelet counts (or immune system cells).

The incidence of these rare side effects has been low worldwide, but has generally occurred in women younger than 40 years. The EMA (European Medicines Agency) and FDA (American agency) had already made a similar recommendation.

“At the current epidemiological moment, viral vector vaccines should really be reassessed in relation to their recommendation due to the risk of serious adverse events, including death. more sense,” said Kfouri.