Health predicts Pfizer vaccine against Covid for children aged 0 to 4 years

The Ministry of Health provides in a contract with Pfizer the possibility of acquiring doses for children from 0 to 4 years old if the vaccine is approved by Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency).

Pfizer intends to ask Anvisa to use the vaccine in children aged 0 to 4 years. Currently, use is approved by the regulatory agency in children aged 5 to 11 years.

The information is contained in a document from the Ministry of Health sent to the Federal Supreme Court (STF) this Wednesday (5).

The executive secretary of the Ministry of Health, Rodrigo Cruz, who signed the statement, explained to the Supreme Court that the contract includes possible adaptations of the original product to cover mutations or variants and new formulations, including pediatric doses.

In this sense, he said that there should be dispensation of immunizers to vaccinate children from 0 to 4 years old and from 5 to 11 years old when the pharmaceutical company had the authorization of Anvisa.

According to data from the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) it is estimated that the country has 14.6 million children aged 0 to 4 years.

“[O Ministério da Saúde] still signaled [à Pfizer], that in relation to the dispensation of vaccines to immunize children from zero to four and five to eleven years old, as soon as the pharmaceutical company obtains authorization from the National Health Surveillance Agency – ANVISA to immunize these age groups, it should prioritize deliveries to meet those public”, points out the document.

Pediatric doses will be delivered under a government contract to receive 100 million vaccines from Pfizer in 2022, which can be scaled up to 150 million units. The purchase cost R$ 6.96 billion, that is, about R$ 69 per dose.

On December 28, an amendment to the contract was signed to cover doses intended for the age group from 5 to 11 years.

Ministry members said that a new additive will have to be signed for doses intended for children aged 0 to 4 years if Anvisa approves the immunizing agent for this audience.

In a recent interview, Pfizer’s president in Brazil, Marta Díez, told leaf that the pharmaceutical company intends to present to Anvisa the request for authorization to use the Covid-19 vaccine in children aged 6 months to 5 years.

Anvisa approved on December 16 the use of the Pfizer vaccine in children aged 5 to 11 years.

The Ministry of Health announced this Wednesday (5) that children from 5 to 11 years old will receive the Pfizer vaccine for Covid-19 without the need to present a medical prescription.

The Ministry of Health also announced that it should receive by March at least 20 million pediatric doses of Pfizer against Covid-19, enough to immunize about half of the population of children aged 5 to 11 years.

The government expects to receive 3.7 million doses by the end of January. The units will be distributed proportionally to the states and the Federal District, responsible for the application of the immunizer.

According to the folder, the first flight with Pfizer vaccines is expected to arrive in Brazil on January 13. The batch will have 1.248 million doses. Delivery must take place at Viracopos airport, in Campinas (SP).

The statement signed by Rodrigo Cruz and other documents on the subject were sent by the AGU to the STF this Wednesday night, within the deadline stipulated by Minister Ricardo Lewandowski for this measure.

The magistrate is the rapporteur of requests from opposition parties to the Bolsonaro government for the vaccination of children against Covid-19 to be included in the PNI.

After analyzing the documents and in light of the announcement made by the ministry, Lewandowski concluded that the requests made by opponents of the Palácio do Planalto had lost their purpose.