Health confirms Coronavac to vaccinate children and says country has 9 million doses

The Ministry of Health confirmed on Friday night (21) the inclusion of Coronavac in the vaccination campaign against Covid-19 for children and adolescents aged 6 to 17 years. According to Rodrigo Cruz, executive secretary of the portfolio, the country has 9 million doses available to apply to this public.

Of the total, 3 million are in the states and can already be used, since the vaccine applied to children is the same used in adults. Another 6 million are in the ministry’s stocks and should begin to be distributed in the coming days.

“We identified that there are in the cold chains [geladeiras e freezers usados para armazenar vacinas] of the states about 3 million doses of Coronavac that can be used immediately in the application of this public”, said the secretary.

Cruz reported that Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Pernambuco, Sergipe, Acre, Amapá, Pará, Roraima, Rio de Janeiro, Tocantins, Pará and Santa Catarina have less than 41,000 doses of Coronavac.

For these 12 states, 733,000 doses will be sent on an emergency basis. The number corresponds to 10% of the target audience of the new age group in these locations.

The ministry expects to receive by next Monday (24) updated information from the states on the amount of vaccines available. After that, the government will assess the need to buy more doses of Coronavac from the Butantan Institute.

“When we receive all the information from the states on the quantity of doses, the ministry will talk to Butantan. If necessary, we can purchase new doses from the Butantan Institute so that we have immediate availability of these doses”, said Cruz.

The ministry sent a letter to Butantan to find out the amount of immunizations available to the Butantan Institute, which replied that it had 7 million.

The Collegiate Board of Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) approved on Thursday (20) the emergency use of the Coronavac vaccine in children and adolescents aged 6 to 17 years.

The agency accepted that the dose applied to children is the same as that used in adults, with an interval of 28 days between the first and the second. São Paulo started vaccination with the immunizer this Thursday.

Immunosuppressed children, however, should receive doses of Pfizer. The first child to receive the vaccine from the pharmaceutical company in Brazil was Davi Seremramiwe Xavante, an 8-year-old indigenous boy. He was vaccinated last Friday.

According to the ministry, the country has already received 2.5 million doses of this immunizer. The last batch, with 1.2 million doses, was delivered on Sunday (16). Another two batches of 1.8 million doses are expected for Monday and the first week of February.