After hours of delay, doses of the immunizer against Covid-19 for children arrived in Rio de Janeiro and are already at the General Storage Coordination (CGA) of the State Department of Health (SES), in Niterói.
The folder had informed that, according to the Ministry of Health, the vaccines would arrive at 00:45 on Friday (14), but were only delivered by the federal government around 11:00. 93,500 doses were received from Pfizer.
As informed by SES, the municipality of Rio will withdraw the lot destined for the capital this Friday afternoon. The cities in the metropolitan region will make the withdrawal at the CGA on Saturday. The other regions of the state will receive the immunizations by aircraft, vans and trucks, also on Saturday.
The intention of the SES is that all municipalities in the state begin vaccination from Monday (17). Despite the amount initially received, the goal, according to the folder, is to vaccinate about 1.5 million children aged 5 to 11 years across the state.
The recommendation is that children with comorbidities and indigenous people be vaccinated as a priority, followed by age groups in descending order.
The capital of Rio de Janeiro should receive just over 37,800 doses of the vaccine, which corresponds to 42% of the total sent to the state of Rio de Janeiro.
According to the calendar released by the municipality of Rio, next Monday, vaccination begins for 11-year-old girls. The forecast is that 560,000 children will be vaccinated in the capital by February 9. They will receive two doses of Pfizer’s immunizer eight weeks apart. The idea is that the entire target audience is vaccinated by the beginning of the school year.
Delivery logistics
So far, according to a survey by the agency CNN, only six states already have Pfizer immunizers. In addition to Rio, the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Norte, Pernambuco and Tocantins also received pediatric vaccines. There are at least ten states that have reported delays in receiving doses. Another five states (Maranhão, Roraima, Rondônia, Espírito Santo and Paraíba) and the Federal District reported that the forecast is within the forecast period.
In a note sent by the Ministry of Health, the delivery of these pediatric doses was anticipated and all of them will be delivered in less than 48 hours.
“The distribution started at dawn this Friday (14) and vaccines are on their way to the states. One-off changes in the logistics of flights will not affect the start of pediatric vaccination, which still depends on the quality control of the competent bodies,” the ministry said.
(With information from Julyanne Jucá)
Reference: CNN Brasil
