Vaccination with the third dose, or booster dose, against Covid-19 begins this Thursday (18) in the state of São Paulo. As of today, everyone over 18 years old will be able to be vaccinated with a new dose of the immunizing agent, as long as they have received the second dose at least five months ago.
The new guidance follows a similar decision by the Ministry of Health, which on Tuesday (16) started to recommend the reinforcement for all adults.
The previous guideline directed that the dose should be applied only to health professionals, elderly people over 60 years of age and immunosuppressed, 6 months after the second dose.
Thus, anyone who took the second dose of Covid-19 vaccines between January and June is already eligible for a third. With the decision, a group of around 710,000 people will be able to receive it as of Thursday, according to the state government.
The government reinforces the guidance that any immunizing agent available in the country – Pfizer, AstraZeneca or Coronavac – is suitable for the new dose and offers protection against the disease.
For those who have received the Janssen-manufactured single-dose vaccine, the third dose should take a little longer. This is because the new guidance from the Ministry of Health is that these people take a second dose of the immunizing agent eight weeks after the first and, only then, start counting the five months for the booster dose.
Regarding the application of the second dose of Janssen, the state only says that the campaign will depend on the availability of the immunizing agent in the national territory and on the shipments of the National Immunization Plan (PNI).
Currently, around 85.52% of the population over 12 years of age in the state of São Paulo has already received both doses of the vaccine against Covid-19 and 9.09% have already received the booster dose.
*Under the supervision of Sinara Peixoto
Reference: CNN Brasil
