Seven capitals are without a vaccine against Covid
At least seven capitals are without a vaccine against Covid. The new doses should only arrive in 15 days.
The city of Goiânia has only 4 thousand doses of the bivalent vaccine against Covid. They are enough for two weeks. And there are a lot of people to vaccinate.
Under the current rules of the National Immunization Program, priority groups need to receive a booster dose each year. People with comorbidities, health professionals, indigenous people and quilombolas, for example.
Those aged 60 or over, those who are immunocompromised, pregnant women and those who have recently given birth should be vaccinated every six months. But it is difficult to fulfill this plan.
In Porto Alegre, the last six doses were administered this Monday (22). Curitiba no longer has stock. In Rio de Janeiro, it ended ten days ago.
In the city of São Paulo, no health center has the Covid vaccine in stock. The Municipal Health Department reported that the last shipment arrived at the beginning of March and that all doses have already been administered.
Tennis teacher Cláudio Claudino, 65 years old, did the math and saw that it was time to take another dose. He was worried when he discovered the vaccine was in short supply.
“Oh, isn’t there? Wow, I was happy to take it. Oh, there isn’t”, says the teacher.
The president of the Infectious Diseases department of the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics, Marco Aurélio Sáfadi, explains that the protection acquired with the vaccine – and even that of those who had the disease – decreases over time.
“More important than the number of doses you have taken in the past, especially if you belong to risk groups, is knowing how long ago you received your last dose. If you received your last dose more than 6 or 12 months ago, it means that you are again at risk of these more serious forms and need to update”, he explains.
The Ministry of Health delayed the purchase of new batches of the COVID vaccine and postponed the start of the vaccination campaign for priority groups from April to May. On the website, the Ministry informs that 12 million and 500 thousand doses will arrive in two weeks.
Seu Carlos took the fifth dose at the beginning of last year. He is 63 years old and needs to protect himself again. “Once they’re going to make it available, I’ll be in line to take it for sure.”
Renato agrees and is just waiting for the vaccine to arrive.
“Vaccines, as the saying goes, are good for the arm, right? So…”, says Renato Corrêa – retired.
