The Ministry of Health now recommends a booster dose of the Pfizer vaccine against Covid-19 for children aged 5 to 11 years. Until then, the folder indicated the third application only from 12 years.
According to the technical note, the recommendation is due to the reduction of the immune response to vaccines and the circulation of new variants in a scenario in which the vaccine coverage considered adequate for children has not yet been reached.
The technical note was signed on December 30 last year, but was released by the Ministry of Health this Wednesday (4).
Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) approved the recommendation of the Pfizer vaccine for use as a booster dose in children aged 5 to 11 years in December last year.
The use of the vaccine in Brazil has been authorized since February 23, 2021, with indication for immunization of a wide age range, starting from six months of age.
The Ministry of Health signed an agreement with Pfizer for the purchase of another 50 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine in December last year.
The agreement provides for the delivery of bivalent vaccines, which offer immunization against more than one strain of the coronavirus, for people over 12 years old. Monovalent vaccines will also be purchased for children aged 6 months to 11 years.
The folder already had a contract in force with the company for the acquisition of 100 million doses of vaccine against Covid-19. With the acquisition, the total number of doses will reach 150 million.
The contract also includes the delivery of potential vaccines adapted to the new variants that may be approved by Anvisa.
The regulatory agency approved in November this year the emergency use of two bivalent vaccines against Covid produced by Pfizer.
The first version presented by the manufacturer was designed with the original strain of Sars-CoV-2 and omicron BA.1, which quickly spread throughout the world. There was also the approval of a new version of the vaccine that has the original strain of the virus and has subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.
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