Coronavac and Pfizer for children are similar in protection levels, says pediatrician

The National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) authorized, this Thursday (20), the use of the Coronavac vaccine against Covid-19 in children and adolescents aged 6 to 17 years – with restriction of application in immunosuppressed in this age group. The Pfizer vaccine was also authorized for use in children, in December last year, by Anvisa, to the public aged 5 to 11 years, with a lower dosage than that applied to adults.

In an interview with CNN this Friday (21), pediatrician and president of the Brazilian Society of Immunizations (SBIm), Juarez Cunha, spoke about the importance in terms of making two vaccines available to children in the country. For the doctor, both are similar in levels of protection, which reiterates the information that choosing an immunizer becomes unnecessary in the face of the pandemic scenario.

“We have real-life data, especially in Chile – data that were used by Anvisa for vaccine approval – these data show high protection, especially for severe forms; but show protection of 74% for symptomatic disease and over 90% for hospitalization. So these numbers are very similar to the numbers we have from Pfizer”, highlighted the pediatrician.

The president of the Brazilian Immunization Society highlights that Brazil has two vaccines for children, considering that the new approved doses of Coronavac will contribute to the acceleration of childhood immunization.

“With the Pfizer vaccine alone, it would take longer to reach this entire population, which is estimated at 20 million children, with two doses, it would be 40 million. Having two safe and effective products, this should be highly celebrated these days”, said Juarez Cunha.

The increase in hospitalizations – between unvaccinated and children – was highlighted by the doctor as an important fact to speed up the vaccination of children against Covid-19.

“With Ômicron, an increase in transmission and consequently in hospitalization was observed, and it mainly affected the unvaccinated groups and children. The earlier we have the higher percentage of any age group [vacinando], and the possibility of reducing the age group of these children, these two products will cover quite effectively in a form of protection”, he said.