The decree that suspends the mandatory Covid-19 vaccine passport in the city of Rio de Janeiro was published in the Official Gazette, this Tuesday (26).
The discontinuity of the measure was sealed this Monday (25), when the mayor of the municipality, Eduardo Paes, accepted the suggestion of the Special Committee to Combat Covid-19 in the capital, during a meeting at the Rio Operations Center (COR).
On the 16th, the Committee will meet again to discuss the matter.
“The vaccine passport will be suspended on the recommendation of the Scientific Committee”, posted Eduardo Paes on Twitter.
It is worth noting that the end of the document requirement for the entry of people in closed places happens shortly after the end of the samba school parades in the capital of Rio de Janeiro. The flexibility will take place earlier than planned by the City of Rio de Janeiro.
Initially, the expectation of the Municipal Health Department was that the requirement would only cease to apply when 70% of the target audience received the booster dose in Rio de Janeiro. Currently, the indicator, according to the panel of the city hall of Rio, is stationary at 63%.
Municipal health secretary Rodrigo Prado explained that the decision was based on the current favorable scenario in the city in relation to the disease. For him, the “strategy” of charging for the vaccination passport was “exhausted”.
“We have a reduction in the number of cases and hospitalizations. We understand that this strategy (to charge the passport) has already been exhausted. We continue to monitor it to have a subsidy to make decisions, if something changes we will change it, so we are calling it a temporary suspension”, said the secretary.
As a result, as of now, only three Brazilian capitals still have the measure in force, according to a survey carried out by the CNN.
They are: Belo Horizonte, Cuiabá and Palmas, a city that should schedule a meeting later this week to discuss the suspension of the measure. São Paulo and Distrito Federal maintain the measure only for public events and large shows.
The researcher at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Diego Xavier, admits that the measure is a reality among Brazilian capitals. However, he believes that he should stay longer, since, according to him, the pandemic is not over yet.
It is a trend that we are seeing all over Brazil. Cities, in general, already remove the obligation of proof of vaccination in closed places. For a period this requirement fulfilled its role. Many people went to get vaccinated to be able to access these places. But now, after seeing Carnival this weekend, it is evident that this vaccination passport is no longer charged. We need to remember that the pandemic is not over, we are still at risk.
Diego Xavier, researcher at Fiocruz
Celso Ramos, an infectious disease specialist member of the National Academy of Medicine, believes that proof of vaccination should become mandatory forever in certain places. According to him, the vaccination passport is a “document” that could be required in places with high rates of contagion of the virus.
“We need to understand the vaccine as a matter of collective security and not individual security. From there, I understand that the certificate needs to be charged. I don’t see why not keep the obligation in certain places with large agglomerations that can create a risk to people’s health “, emphasizes Celso Ramos.
Source: CNN Brasil
