Government receives 100,000 contributions in consultation on vaccinating children; decision comes out on the 5th

Until Sunday night (2), the Ministry of Health had received about 100 thousand manifestations in the open public consultation on the vaccination of children from 5 to 11 years old.

However, the number that will be presented by the folder must be smaller because duplicated manifestations are being excluded, that is, of those who expressed themselves more than once.

The estimate is that it will be around 70 thousand contributions.

The manifestations had a deadline to be sent until January 2, “so that contributions can be presented, duly substantiated”, according to the ministry.

The folder was officially sought, but did not appear until the conclusion of this report.

The government has even informed in recent weeks that the contributions will be used to obtain subsidies and information from society for the decision-making process. Anyone could speak out.

In a recent note, the folder said it was in favor of vaccinating this public. However, he stressed that the decision depends on the outcome of the public consultation that is in progress.

“On January 5, after listening to the society, the folder will formalize its decision and, maintaining the recommendation, the immunization of this age group should start in January”, says the statement.

If the recommendation is maintained, vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 years should start in January.

The intention of the folder is to recommend that children aged 5 to 11 years are vaccinated against Covid-19, provided that upon presentation of a medical prescription and parental consent.

According to the minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, the final decision will be made by the parents, a practice that already takes place today. “Parents are free to take their children to receive this vaccine,” he said at a press conference.

According to him, until January 5th, the document with the rules for the vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 must be approved.

The date coincides with the deadline established by Minister Ricardo Lewandowski, of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), for the government to provide information on childhood vaccinations. Lewandowski is the rapporteur of a PT request related to the subject.

The extraordinary secretary for coping with Covid-19, Rosana Leite de Melo, stated in a technical note sent to the Supreme Court that the vaccine against Covid-19 developed for children is safe, that the immunizing agent is a protection tool and that vaccination will alleviate interruptions of classes in the pandemic.

“Before recommending vaccination [contra a] Covid-19 for children, scientists have carried out clinical trials with thousands of children and no serious safety concerns have been identified,” said the secretary, in a technical note completed on the 19th.

The position of Melo, who is part of Queiroga’s team, contradicts questions about the safety of the vaccine made by the minister and especially by president Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

The Health Minister and President Bolsonaro even said that “there is no child death” to justify an emergency decision on the Covid-19 vaccine for children.

The president went so far as to say that he participated in the public consultation as a “citizen”, and defended the proposal to require a medical prescription to vaccinate children aged 5 to 11 years.

According to data from the Epidemiological Surveillance System for Influenza (SIVEP-Influenza), since the beginning of the pandemic until December 6 of this year, 301 deaths of children between 5 and 11 years old due to Covid-19 were registered in the country.

In 2020, 2,978 children had severe acute respiratory syndrome due to the coronavirus—156 of them died. This year, there were 3,185 cases in this age group, with 145 deaths.

The Pfizer vaccine has already been authorized by Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) on December 16th.

The chief executive of the regulatory agency, Antonio Barra Torres, in an interview with leaf he even considered the public consultation and the minister’s proposal to charge a medical prescription to immunize the youngest to be inadequate.

“It has no precedent in fighting the pandemic and is inexorably leading to a waste of time,” said Barra Torres.

Experts also considered the public consultation unnecessary. Some even claimed that the questions asked were misleading and biased.

“The questions are biased, poorly formulated and have the objective of creating insecurity in the population. It is not possible to tabulate the answers at the end”, says pediatrician and infectious disease specialist Renato Kfouri.

Among the consultation questions, one asks whether the Internet user agrees with the vaccination of this age group. In others, it agrees with the Health proposal to demand a medical prescription for the immunization of children.

Another multiple-choice question asks how the person found out about the public consultation. Lists in response to the Official Gazette of the Union, the Health portal, social networks, friends, email, but does not mention the press.

There is also a question about schools, which questions the obligation to present a vaccination card. Immunization is not mandatory in the country, but it is common for schools to charge students’ up-to-date vaccination cards.