China is facing an increasing number of cases of Covid-19 after the end of the strict sanitary policy against the disease on December 7.
The country’s National Health Commission, responsible for daily reporting of cases and deaths, stopped releasing the indicators on December 24th.
The outbreak of coronavirus infections in the Asian country of 1.4 billion inhabitants raises the alert of the health authorities of the countries to the possibility of new waves of the disease.
The increased circulation of the virus favors the emergence of new variants, which may contain mutations capable of affecting the properties of the virus, such as increasing the transmission capacity or the severity of the disease, in addition to impacts on the effectiveness of vaccines, medicines and diagnostic methods.
How Brazil can prepare
The expansion of vaccination coverage against Covid-19, including the application of booster doses, is one of the main methods to reduce the risk of disease outbreaks in Brazil.
According to the Ministry of Health, more than 79% of the population completed the primary vaccination schedule with two doses or single doses. To date, more than 497 million doses have already been applied to the population – see the vaccination schedule below.
“It is very important that we prepare for this situation, precisely because we did not do what we had to do. Our vulnerable population of children has not been vaccinated in the country. Children from 6 months of age have an absolutely shameful rate of vaccination due to an absolute incompetence of vaccination campaigns”, says infectologist Luana Araújo to CNN 🇧🇷
The expert says that the new federal government should take over with the expectation of preparing for an emergency health situation.
“We have elderly people with a long time since the last dose and we know that this long period, over six months, can lead to greater vulnerability of a population that is already fragile. We still have a very large population of young adults who don’t have a booster that is the basics of Covid vaccination today”, warns the doctor.
According to the infectologist, the preparation for a new wave of the disease requires the mobilization of vaccination campaigns and reinforcements of the health system to serve the population.
“We need to mobilize our resources again, strengthen the PNI [Programa Nacional de Imunizações] and having a very clear idea of how many vaccines we have in the country, something we don’t have, the validity of these vaccines and where they are. We need to connect the federal government with states and municipalities so that we can go back to acting as a unified country, ”he says.
vaccination schedule
The Ministry of Health advises that the first booster dose, recommended for people from 12 years of age, should be applied four months after the second dose or single dose. The second booster dose, at the moment, is recommended by the folder for the population over 40 years of age and health workers, regardless of age.
Immunizers recommended for booster doses in people aged 18 and over are from Pfizer, AstraZeneca or Janssen. For adolescents between 12 and 17 years old, the Pfizer vaccine should preferably be used. If not available, the Coronavac vaccine can be used.
For those who started the vaccination schedule with a single dose of Janssen, the recommendation is as follows: three boosters for people aged 40 years and over and health professionals, and two boosters for people aged 18 to 39 years. The first booster is applied two months after the beginning of the cycle and the others must follow the four-month interval. The orientation is that AstraZeneca, Pfizer or Janssen vaccines are also used.
According to the ministry, the recommendations were made based on studies that demonstrate that the ability to generate an immune response, called immunogenicity, after applying heterologous booster doses, with a different combination of vaccines against Covid-19, was adequate and superior. to regimens without booster doses.
Source: CNN Brasil
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