João Doria (PSDB), governor of São Paulo, said in an interview this Wednesday (9) that the state will adopt the fourth dose of the vaccine against Covid-19 “regardless of whether or not there is a recommendation from the Ministry of Health. ”.
The statement was made by Doria to Rádio Eldorado, from São Paulo, and confirmed by CNN.
“Advancing in the second dose, we will be able to advance in the booster dose, the fourth dose, following an order of age group”, said the governor. “Yes, we are going to adopt the fourth dose in São Paulo, regardless of whether or not there is a recommendation from the Ministry of Health”, he added.
According to João Gabbardo, executive coordinator of the Scientific Committee on Covid-19, the start date for the application of the fourth dose can be set this Thursday (9), at a meeting of the State Immunization Program.
Although the application of the fourth dose has been confirmed, before starting the campaign, the priority will be to immunize those who have not yet taken the second dose of the vaccine against Covid-19. From this, the state Department of Health will be able to advance in the vaccination with the fourth dose, following an order by age group.
In December, the Ministry of Health authorized the application of the fourth dose of the immunizer against the coronavirus, but only for immunosuppressed people. This group includes citizens with severe primary immunodeficiency, undergoing chemotherapy for cancer or transplants (solid organ or stem cells) who use immunosuppressive drugs, in addition to people living with HIV/AIDS.
The intention to expand this new dose of vaccine had already been suggested by the coordinator of the State Immunization Plan, Regiane de Paula, during a press conference last Saturday (5). “We are evaluating the fourth dose for the population [geral]. But first, we need to finish the third dose of all those eligible”, said Regiane.
According to her, the state of São Paulo has about 10 million people able to take the third dose, but who have not yet appeared to receive the booster. In addition, about 2.2 million individuals did not take the second dose.
Source: CNN Brasil
