About 69 million Brazilians have delayed the first booster dose of the vaccine against Covid-19, according to data from the National Health Data Network (RNDS) released by the Ministry of Health. The second vaccine booster (also called the fourth dose) is also delayed in vaccination: there are more than 30 million people who have not yet had their protection scheme updated.
The delay is also observed in the second dose of the primary regimen. According to the ministry, around 19 million people did not seek the second application after the first dose.
The folder also reported that the data refer to this week, even though, on November 12, 2022, the then Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, already stated the same number of 69 million people without the first booster of the vaccine.
The alert comes at the same time that the ministry recommended booster vaccinations for children aged 5 to 11 years. Before that, booster immunization was only allowed for those over 12 years old.
Regarding the fourth dose, the ministry’s recommendation is that it be intended for people over 40 years old. Some states, however, already vaccinate a broader portion of the population with the booster.
The application of new doses is necessary because, over time, the protection provided by vaccines may decline. In this way, additional reinforcements improve the immune system responses against the virus.
In addition, evidence already indicates that boosters are essential against new variants of Sars-CoV-2 that have the ability to evade vaccines. A more effective solution for these cases is to use drugs updated to new strains of the virus, such as the Pfizer drugs that have already landed in the country.
In this case, the new secretary of Health and Environment Surveillance at the Ministry of Health, Ethel Maciel, said that the idea is to incorporate the vaccine against Covid-19 into the government’s annual calendar for people in the priority group —such as the elderly, immunosuppressed people and healthcare professionals. health.
At first, this update would be carried out with the bivalent vaccine, added Maciel.
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