The WHO’s new guidance recommending two drugs to combat Covid-19 and the Ministry of Health’s request for the release of the use of self-tests against the disease are among the highlights of the 5 facts morning of January 14, 2022.
vaccine distribution
States and municipalities begin to receive today (14) the first doses of Pfizer’s childhood vaccine against Covid-19. The first batch, distributed by the Ministry of Health, arrived in Brazil yesterday and has 1.2 million doses of the immunizing agent. The expectation is that the vaccination of children from 5 to 11 years old begins this weekend in some capitals of the country.
Medicines against Covid
The World Health Organization (WHO) updated the treatment guidelines against Covid-19 and started to indicate two new drugs for infected patients. Baricitinib, regularly used for arthritis, is now adopted for severe cases of the disease. The monoclonal antibody Sotrovimab will be included for patients with milder symptoms.
Self-test authorization
The Ministry of Health officially sent the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) the request for authorization of the use of Covid-19 self-tests in Brazil. In the minutes, the ministry claims that the tests will help the country to monitor new cases of the disease and to prevent infections. The agency, on the other hand, claims that the ministry’s technical note is not in the system.
price inspection
São Paulo’s Procon held a task force on Thursday to combat abusive prices of tests for the new coronavirus in private laboratories and pharmacies. According to data from the Brazilian Association of Diagnostic Medicine (Abramed), the demand for these tests has doubled since the end of the year.
Rejection of vaccines
The donation of more than 100 million vaccines against Covid-19 was rejected by underdeveloped countries last December, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The justification, said the entity, is the proximity of the expiration date of the immunizers – which would be distributed by Covax, the vaccine consortium led by the WHO – and the lack of appropriate refrigerators.
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Reference: CNN Brasil
