Majority in public consultation is against medical prescription to vaccinate children

The public consultation carried out by the Ministry of Health pointed out that most people were against the medical prescription at the time of the vaccine. About 100,000 people demonstrated until the 2nd of January.

The information was given by Rosana Leite de Melo, extraordinary secretary for the Covid-19 of the Ministry of Health, in a public hearing this Tuesday (4).

“We had 99,309 people who participated in this short period of time in which the document was for public consultation, most of which agreed with the non-compulsory nature of vaccination and the prioritization of children with comorbidities. Most were against the mandatory nature of medical prescriptions. in the act of vaccination,” said Rosana.

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. The final document will be released this Wednesday (5).

The Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, said this Monday (3) that parents will have a vaccine if they want to vaccinate their children. He also reinforced that there will be enough dose for that.

“The hearing is to expand the discussion on this issue of vaccination of children. On the 5th, the final decision of the Ministry of Health will come out, which will not bring any special news. It will not be very different from what the Ministry has already put in public consultation” , he said.

In a recent note, the folder said it was in favor of vaccinating this public. However, he had stressed that the decision depended on the outcome of the public consultation that ended this Sunday (2).

Pediatric doses will be delivered through a government contract to receive 100 million vaccines from Pfizer in 2022, which can be expanded to 150 million units.

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

Melo stated in a technical note sent to the Supreme Court that the Covid-19 vaccine developed for children is safe, that the immunizing agent is a protection tool and that the vaccination will alleviate class interruptions 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).