At a meeting last Friday (17), the Covid-19 Technical Advisory Board on Immunization (CTAI Covid-19) demonstrated unanimous support for the vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 years against the coronavirus, with the immunizing agent from Pfizer, in line with Anvisa’s decision on the matter.
“Given the recent favorable opinion by Anvisa regarding the authorization request for the application of the vaccine developed by the manufacturer Pfizer in the pediatric population between 5 and 11 years of age in Brazil, CTAI Covid-19 was unanimously in favor of the its incorporation in the national vaccination campaign, in an ordinary meeting held on December 17, 2021”, informed the CTAI note.
The Ministry of Health has not yet adopted the vaccination of children with Pfizer’s immunizing agent. On January 4th, a public hearing will be held, in Health, to discuss what was offered in public consultation, in addition to the CTAI’s position. The discussion will serve as the basis for the Ministry of Health’s final decision, as informed by Minister Marcelo Queiroga.
According to the minister, issues around the application of the vaccine to children should be analyzed in the “technical scope” and “the scope of the Ministry of Health”, so that, from then on, this policy can be followed by states and municipalities.
Anvisa’s decision
The National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) authorized the use of Pfizer’s vaccine against Covid-19 in children aged 5 to 11 years in Brazil. The decision was released on Thursday (16) after a technical evaluation of the request submitted by the pharmaceutical company on November 12th.
The dosage of the vaccine for this age group will be adjusted and lower (one third) than that used by people over 12 years old. According to Anvisa, the proposal is to have different bottles, with specific dosage for each group.
At the public meeting broadcast live by Anvisa, the agency’s general director of Medicines, Gustavo Mendes, stated that the available scientific evidence indicates that the vaccine administered in a two-dose regimen for children aged 5 to 11 years can be effective in preventing serious illness and death.
With information from Lucas Rocha and Carla Vilhena, from CNN
Reference: CNN Brasil
