The Ministry of Health holds, this Tuesday (4), a public hearing to discuss vaccination against Covid-19 in children aged 5 to 11 years.
The discussion about the release of the vaccine against Covid-19 for children had already been made by Anvisa during the approval process of the childhood immunizer from Pfizer for emergency use last month, when 1,600 people were consulted.
Upon approval by the regulatory agency, the Ministry of Health said, however, that it would release vaccination for children only upon presentation of a medical request.
In an interview with CNN, the coordinator of the Pediatric Pneumology Commission of the Brazilian Society of Pulmonology and Phthisiology (SBPT), Luiz Vicente Ribeiro, said that the decision and analysis made by Anvisa to authorize immunization for this age group is “first of all, technical”.
“It was very clear that the benefits far outweigh the risks”, he added.
The pediatric pulmonologist said that he “did not understand very well” the purpose of the public consultation and hearing promoted by the Ministry of Health, because vaccination should start as soon as possible.
He argues that vaccinating children against Covid-19 will also serve to prevent this group from becoming a “reservoir” for the virus in society – allowing it to continue being transmitted and possibly transmuting into new variants.
“The origin of the new variants is precisely the countries with low vaccination coverage. And we see the impact of the vaccine in reducing the severity of cases”, cited Luiz Vicente Ribeiro as justifications for encouraging immunization.
Reference: CNN Brasil
