The Ministry of Health requested the purchase of 10 million doses of the Coronavac vaccine from the Butantan Institute to immunize children against Covid-19.
The São Paulo laboratory assured that it will have the volume available for delivery in the coming days and should respond to the request of the federal government on Tuesday morning (1st), according to sources accompanying the negotiations.
Saúde awaits an official response to proceed with the purchase process.
On January 21, the ministry included Coronavac in the vaccination campaign against Covid-19 for children and adolescents aged 6 to 17 years. The federal government estimated, on this date, that there were about 9 million doses of this vaccine available ready for application.
Of the total, 3 million were in state stocks, while the ministry kept another 6 million units, according to the ministry.
In a technical note published last week, the ministry reported that it had already sent 733,720 doses of Coronavac to states that were without vaccines available or with low stock for the start of the campaign to immunize children with Coronavac.
Health was waiting for a response from the states to find out if it would need to buy doses of Coronavac and how much needed to vaccinate children.
The immunizer should be used in children who are not immunocompromised and who are over 6 years old, according to the recommendations of Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency).
The ministry signed contracts in 2021 with Butantan for the purchase of 100 million doses of Coronavac for about US$ 10 each vaccine. The institute now offers the immunizer for about $7, according to officials following the negotiations.
The vaccination of children in Brazil started on January 14th. The indigenous boy Davi Seremramiwe Xavante, 8, was the first immunized, with pediatric doses from Pfizer.
There is no difference between the Coronavac vaccine that will be given to children and the one already used in adults.
In the case of Pfizer’s immunizer, the pediatric dose has an orange cap, while those intended for people over 12 are purple. In addition, the immunizing agent for younger people has a lower dose.
The vaccination of children and adolescents is a sensitive topic in the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government, as the president distorts data and discourages the immunization of young people. He even threatened to expose the names of Anvisa servers who approved the use of Pfizer vaccines in children.
In a note released on January 8, the president of Anvisa, Antonio Barra Torres, rebutted insinuations of alleged hidden interests of Anvisa in vaccinating children and demanded the president’s retraction.
The use of Coronavac in Brazil has also become a subject of dispute between Bolsonaro and São Paulo governor João Doria (PSDB).
The president even ordered the cancellation of the purchase of 60 million doses of this vaccine and called the immunizer the “Chinese Doria vaccine”.
as showed the leaf, the Ministry of Health asked the PGR (Attorney General’s Office), the Ministry of Justice and the CGU (Comptroller General of the Union) to investigate the price of the Coronavac vaccine.
The folder pointed out that the Covax Facility consortium sold the same vaccine for a lower price, while Butantan said it was not possible to compare offers.
Source: Folha
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