At least 100 million Brazilians still need to take the third dose against Covid-19 in the country, according to data from the Ministry of Health compiled this Saturday (12). Of this group, 10 million people missed the deadline to seek booster vaccination against the virus.
The rest need to attend the vaccination posts over the next few weeks.
The Ministry of Health platform points out that 146.3 million Brazilians were immunized with two doses of the immunizer or with a single dose. And, so far, only 45.1 million have returned to vaccination posts to receive the booster dose.
“Many people who took the second dose, had Ômicron, and are thinking that this contamination has generated an immunity that can survive the third application. This is a mistake. People need to take the third dose, because over time these people’s immunity will start to decline”, explained Diego Xavier, epidemiologist at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz).
A survey carried out by CNN Agencybased on data sent by the state health secretariats of the Federation Units, at least 12 states in the country have a booster dose vaccination percentage below 20%.
And despite the slow application of the booster dose, some Brazilian states are studying expanding the application of the fourth dose to people who are not immunosuppressed. Mato Grosso do Sul has already expanded. São Paulo announced that it will apply, regardless of the recommendation of the federal government.
“The big problem is the mismatch we have between the vaccination schedules in Brazil, there is a lack of organization in the distribution and application of vaccines. If we take some states, as is the case of Amapá, we can see the total imbalance in the country’s immunization plan. Part of these states, mainly in the North and Northeast, which have extremely low vaccination rates, need help with distribution and information to the population about vaccination”, highlights Diego Xavier.
Mentioned by the epidemiologist at Fiocruz, the state of Amapá, in the north of the country, has the worst vaccination coverage of the third dose in Brazil, with only 6.90% of the population vaccinated over 18 years of age. Roraima, located in the same region, takes the second place, with 8.50%.
The other states with low vaccination rates are Pará (10.39%), Acre (11.14%), Maranhão (12.12%), Rondônia (12.61%), Tocantins (13.57%), Mato Grosso (14.16%), Alagoas (16.92%), Goiás (17.51%), Amazonas (18.07%) and Paraíba (12.61%).
In a note, the Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases (SBI) reported that the priority at this time is to carry out the basic vaccination schedule (2 initial doses or a single dose) and the third dose.
According to the vice president of SBI, Alexandre Naime, the country presented very strong contrasts in vaccination campaigns. He pointed out that there are advanced states with vaccine coverage, but not all the country has the same reality in relation to the doses applied.
“Brazil is a country that has many inequalities, including in vaccination coverage. There are places where the third dose vaccination is already very high, and in these places they can think of a fourth application. On the other hand, there are places that cannot cover the third dose in the population, and one cannot think about the fourth application”, he explains.
This Friday (11), after a meeting of the Technical Advisory Chamber on Immunization of Covid-19 (CTAI), the Ministry of Health decided not to recommend the fourth dose of vaccines against covid-19. The understanding is that there is no scientific basis for adopting the additional dose in people who are not immunosuppressed.
Source: CNN Brasil
