Relaxation of mask use is premature, says Fiocruz

Initiatives to make the use of masks more flexible and suspend other measures of social distance in Brazil may be premature, says Fiocruz (Fundação Oswaldo Cruz) in an epidemiological bulletin on Covid released this Friday (11).

According to the institution, continuing with these measures is important to cover gaps, such as low vaccine coverage, in the fight against coronavirus.

“Vaccination alone is not enough to control the pandemic and prevent deaths and suffering, it is essential to maintain a set of combined measures until the appropriate level of vaccination coverage of the target population is reached”, say the researchers in the document.

Fiocruz mentions an American study published in The Lancet that evaluated the positive impacts of wearing a mask even after reaching a high level of vaccination in the population. In the research, scientists used mathematical models and observed how the use of equipment can save thousands of lives and also save public health financial resources.

For Fiocruz, the emergence of new, more transmissible variants, such as ômicron and delta, and the loss of vaccine efficacy are indicative for the continued use of masks. “The uncertainties involved in this pandemic process add even more value to [a utilização das máscaras]”, say the authors of the newsletter.

Currently, some states have already suspended the requirement of the item in open spaces, as is the case of São Paulo, which announced the flexibility this Wednesday (9).

There are also places, such as the city of Rio de Janeiro, that now dispense with the mask also indoors. In the capital of Rio de Janeiro, the change took effect on Monday (7).

In the bulletin, the institution also draws attention to the fact that the lethality by Covid-19 in the country has increased compared to the previous week.

According to the data, the average lethality in Brazil was around 0.3% at the beginning of 2022, when there was an explosion of cases in the face of the spread of the omicron. This week, that figure has evolved to approximately 1%.

For the researchers, this increase in mortality “may mark the end of a period of high transmissibility of the disease, as well as serve as an alert for the possible occurrence of serious cases, especially among more vulnerable population groups, unvaccinated or with a vaccination schedule”. incomplete”.

Another point addressed was the issue of the fourth dose, which still generates debate among specialists on whether or not it should be adopted in the country.

In the case of Fiocruz, there was mention of the importance of addressing this issue, as the six-month milestone is approaching in which the first booster doses were given to the elderly, a population group at great risk for Covid.