In an interview with CNN, this Monday (6), infectologist and epidemiologist Luana Araújo spoke about the importance of the requirement for a vaccine passport to contain Covid-19 in Brazil. For the doctor, the decision should not be political, but technical, considering the emergence of new variants and low vaccine adherence in some states.
“The feeling is that we are still at the forefront of world stupidity, we are still making late, wrong decisions, we are still not following science. Vaccination passport is not a political decision, it is a technical decision, it exists for several other diseases, such as yellow fever. It doesn’t make sense, it’s a matter of population protection”, he said.
This Monday, the Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Luís Roberto Barroso set a period of 48 hours for the Ministries of Civil Affairs, Justice, Health and Infrastructure to manifest themselves on the requirement of a passport for the vaccine or mandatory quarantine for the entry of travelers into Brazil.
“The vaccination passport or the need for vaccination is not a restriction of freedom, people need to stop associating these things. When you say that someone cannot smoke on a plane, this is not a restriction of freedom, this is protection of the health of those on the plane, this decision is harmful and only helps those who have interests other than the common good,” said the infectious disease to CNN.
Luana Araújo spoke about the importance of the booster dose, however, highlighted that the states that reduce the interval between the second dose and the booster should pay attention to the balance of immunization distribution between the regions of the country.
“We still have a very large inequality in the country in terms of vaccination coverage, we have states with less than 40% coverage and these states are not only the birthplaces of new variants, but are also a clear target for a variant such as Ômicron. And they are usually states with difficulties in their public health system”, reiterated the infectious disease specialist.
Reference: CNN Brasil
