Health tries to bypass Bolsonaro’s resistance and advance in Covid vaccination

Almost a year and a half after the start of Covid-19 vaccination, the Ministry of Health is still trying to circumvent the denialist banners of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and expand the coverage of protection against the pandemic.

Among the main concerns of technicians in the folder is the low scope of application in some regions, such as in Roraima, where only 64% of the population received at least one dose, according to data from the Press Consortium.

The government also does not rule out expanding the application of the fourth dose. The trend is that this discussion will gain strength in the second semester, in the reading of members of Health.

The current guideline is to make this dose available for people over 70 and for those who are at greater risk of complications from Covid.

Members of Health assess that there is no shortage of vaccines for this year. There are 90 million immunizers in stock, in addition to doses in states and municipalities.

In total, the government has already distributed 487.7 million vaccines. In addition, there is an option to purchase 60 million units from Fiocruz and 50 million from Pfizer for the second half of the year.

To expand the basic cycle in states with low coverage, the Health strategy is to mount local campaigns in these regions and adopt the use of sound car and mobilization at the borders.

SUS managers, however, claim that the effect of Health actions is limited. They demand greater protagonism from the ministry in topics that are sensitive to Bolsonarism, such as the immunization of children.

“You can’t just say that the vaccine is in place for those who want it”, said the president of Conass (National Council of Health Secretaries), Nésio Fernandes.

“The greatest interest in having broad coverage is of the Republic, of the political authorities, we must have in the federal government that entity fully responsible for promoting a national campaign to encourage vaccination,” said Fernandes, who is also Secretary of Health in Espírito Santo. Holy.

Bolsonaro, who says he has not been vaccinated, is a critic of immunization against Covid. He questioned on several occasions the effectiveness of immunizations and opposed the expansion of the campaign to protect children.

Bolsonaro projected, in January 2021, that less than half of the population would get the vaccine, but about 84.9% have received at least one dose so far. This index is an index on the total that includes the group of up to five years old who still do not have an immunization option registered in Brazil.

Although the vaccine is no longer the priority target of the president’s complaints, Health still struggles to address some issues. The government, for example, released only one generic communication campaign on children’s immunization.​

The Health summit also avoids projecting what future campaigns against Covid will be like, but assesses that if the disease is controlled, it is possible to reduce the size of the public that will receive the doses.

In this case, vaccines could be purchased from the SUS based on priority groups, such as the elderly, people with a greater chance of developing the severe form of the disease, in addition to health professionals.

Healthy adults would receive surplus vaccines in the public network. The design would follow the line of routine campaigns, such as the flu.

Assistants to Minister Marcelo Queiroga, however, claim that this scenario depends on the behavior of the disease and the evolution of vaccines on the market. There is still expectation that the private network will advance in the purchase of immunizers.​

“At the moment, the priority is to advance in the 1st and 2nd booster doses. The Ômicron variants have greater vaccine escape, but even so, vaccination protects against hospitalization, serious cases and deaths”, Queiroga told Sheet.

“We still don’t have all the elements to define the 2023 vaccination strategy, but we have doses of vaccines”, he declared. “Let’s wait for the scientific evidence to advance this year with the possibility of vaccinating the younger age groups”, said the minister.

For Fernandes, Covid cannot be treated in the same way as other diseases that have routine vaccination campaigns.

“We are not talking about a disease that has been fully controlled, with a predictable mutation pattern. I cannot consider the annual booster of vaccination against a disease that took the lives of a significant number of people between 20 and 55 years unnecessary”, said the president of Conass. .

Rodrigo Cruz, who served as executive secretary of the Ministry of Health until this Wednesday (11), told Sheetin the last week, that it is not safe to say that the 2023 campaign will already be reduced.

“The effort today is to implement the current campaign,” said Cruz.

For the president of Conass, the current problem is the pace of vaccination. “The topic is absent from the major national agendas, this has contributed to slowing down the campaign”, stated Fernandes. He also states that it is important to update the national communication strategy of the Covid campaign.

In a note, Saúde said that it has already carried out 38 advertising campaigns aired on TVs and radios across the country. “The paste also broadly reinforces the importance of the second dose and the booster dose to ensure maximum protection against the virus and contain the advance of new variants in the country,” the ministry said.

“It also recommends that states and municipalities actively search for the population to complete the vaccination schedule against Covid-19”, the ministry also declared.