A survey carried out by the Agency CNN, this Wednesday (12), showed that at least two Brazilian capitals will require children and adolescents to prove vaccination against Covid-19 for admission to public schools in the municipality. The obligation will take place in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Porto Velho. Proof of vaccinations will have to be made at the time of enrollment for the school year.
“The Municipal Department of Education of Rio de Janeiro will require the vaccination card from students, as is done every year. This includes the vaccine against COVID-19, as it becomes available.”
The lifting of CNN also points out that two other capitals in the country are studying requiring proof of vaccination as a prerequisite for school enrollment: Boa Vista and Aracaju. On the other hand, Vitória, Palmas, Cuiabá, Teresina, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, Recife, São Luís, Goiânia and São Paulo do not require and do not intend to adopt the measure.
Private schools, on the other hand, have the autonomy to decide whether to charge the vaccine passport during student enrollment. in conversation with the CNN, the president of the National Federation of Private Schools (Fenep), Bruno Eizerik, says that the measure will depend on the sanitary methodology of each private institution.
“The Brazilian states and municipalities that decide on the requirement for a passport for children in a general context. But in practice, what we actually have is autonomy in the private network, teaching units can demand a passport if they want to. But remembering that all of them under the same determination if the public bodies decide to adopt the measure”, said the president of Fenep.
From a legal point of view, the post-doctorate in law, Lenio Streck, states that the requirement of proof of vaccination for children may be mandatory from the moment that this age group already has official authorization from Anvisa to be immunized, which happened mid-December for children aged 5 to 11.
“The same situation for children will be what already happens with adults. The mandatory vaccination in Brazil is in an indirect way. We cannot take people by force to vaccinate them. However, we may require proof of vaccination for travel, clubs, rights and in schools as well. The passport requirement starts to be charged for children from the moment that this age group can already vaccinate, so the government can charge the vaccination passport in these places”, he concluded.
A CNN He also spoke with Vera Chamim, a constitutional lawyer and Master in Public Administration from FGV in São Paulo, who says that the collective right to health and life overlaps in extreme scenarios with individual rights. Thus ensuring that the requirement for vaccination in schools is constitutional.
“It is extremely relevant to clarify that the “individual” right to freedom to come and go, as well as the “individual” right to choose, must prevail in any situation, given that we live in a Democratic State of Law. No one will be obliged to do or fail to do anything except by virtue of the law. This right, however, must give way in a very exceptional situation, in which health and life are at risk, due to the inevitable coexistence between people. Thus, the “collective” right to health and life prevails over the “individual” right to choose, as long as the present crisis lasts”, highlighted Vera Chamim.
From an epidemiological point of view, Gulnar Azevedo, professor and member of the Institute of Social Medicine at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), confirms that the measure is important to contain the spread of the virus.
“Looking at the public health issue, the possibility of this mandatory passport for the Covid-19 vaccine to enroll in schools is a good measure. We need to understand that we are in the middle of a pandemic. Of course, they need to go back to school, but in a safe way. And the safest method to do that is to vaccinate that group. It is a correct measure, yes”, highlighted Gulnar Azevedo.
*With information from Giulia Alecrim
Reference: CNN Brasil
