The moment of the Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil is extremely critical and raises concern, according to the president of the National Council of Municipal Health Secretariats (Conasems), Wilames Freire. According to what he said in an interview with CNN This Tuesday (18), 80% of the antigen tests for Covid carried out are positive.
Thus, with the advancement of the Ômicron variant and the growth in the number of cases of the disease, the health system has been increasingly impacted and pressured, but, according to Freire, this was already expected, observing what is happening in other countries.
For the president, the current preparation makes Brazil run less risk of experiencing situations similar to other moments of the pandemic, such as the lack of supplies and beds. However, caution and safety are still required.
“We have guided municipalities to protect their medical teams, so that we can have the least number of professionals away. If we have a large number of professionals, it will be very difficult to fight the pandemic, as we cannot replace these professionals”, he said after informing that the average number of health workers on leave is around 10 to 15%.
As he explained in the interview, a positive point is that vaccination has managed to prevent a significant increase in the number of deaths and, mainly, hospitalizations – whether in the ICU or not.
“For every ten people hospitalized in Brazil, eight have not been vaccinated,” he said.
He stressed the importance of carrying out a national campaign for vaccination, bringing together federal, state and municipal governments.
About Coronavac, Freire said that, if approved by the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa), it should be used in the vaccination of children.
Anvisa will hold a meeting to decide whether or not to authorize the use on Thursday (20), at 10 am. This Wednesday (19), at 3 pm, a decision will be made on self-tests in Brazil.
Reference: CNN Brasil
