Covid: 13% of adults took a booster with a bivalent dose – 06/18/2023 – Health

It’s been almost a year since Cristiane de Souza Geraldo, 53, received her most recent dose of the vaccine against Covid-19, in July 2022. That was her fourth application: the first two were in May and August 2021, in addition to third in January 2022.

A resident of the city of São Paulo, Cristiane could have taken a fifth dose from April 26th of this year. On that date, the São Paulo City Hall released the booster dose with the bivalent vaccine for those over 50 years old.

But Cristiane still hasn’t looked for a health post for that. According to her, one of the possible explanations is “by believing that I am already well immunized or by lack of incentive”. She also claims that there is a lack of better communication about the immunizer. “I didn’t take it myself and I didn’t go after more information.”

Cristiane’s case is no exception. Her daughter, Amanda Tescari Medeiros, 24, has three doses of the vaccine against Covid, but has not yet sought the updated model. She could have taken the new booster since May 6, when the extra immunizer was released for all adults in São Paulo.

Similar to her mother, Amanda says that publicity about the bivalent falls short of what was done previously. For her, communication about the first dose and the second, for example, was better. “I think this makes vaccine adherence [bivalente] be smaller too.”

Data from all over Brazil attest that demand is really low. Since April 24, the Ministry of Health released the bivalent vaccine for all those over 18 years old and let each local government decide the availability of the dose. So far, only 13% of the eligible public in Brazil have bothered to take the new dose, with especially low coverage among younger people.

The booster is available for any adult who has taken two or more doses of the monovalent vaccine, the one applied since the beginning of the pandemic. In addition, the last application must have taken place at least four months ago.

The updated model is manufactured by Pfizer. It is composed of the original strain of Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, first identified in Wuhan, China. In addition to this, the drug has subvariants of omicron, which provides greater protection, since they are strains responsible for many cases today.

Therefore, experts defend the importance of updating the vaccination scheme with the updated model. “It is very harmful that the demand for bivalent vaccination is still so low in Brazil, since there have been studies showing that the additional protection obtained against the new variants that circulates is very high”, says Margareth Dalcolmo, researcher at Fiocruz and President of the Brazilian Society of Pulmonology.

Eder Gatti Fernandes, director of the Ministry of Health’s immunization and vaccine-preventable diseases department, reiterates that the problem is one of adherence to the vaccine, not a lack of doses. According to him, the portfolio complies with “the obligation to guarantee that there is a vaccine for everyone”.

The lower interest in immunization has several explanations. One of them is the spread of fake news, which undermines confidence in the vaccine. Another reason is the drop in the sense of risk. The more the population was vaccinated, the fewer fatalities from Covid-19 were being recorded and then the fear subsided. This was seen even during the period in which the reinforcement was given with the monovalent model, with a lower average daily dose compared to the first applications.

“Coverage is decreasing due to fatigue in communication itself and with the control of a disease that no longer scares as much as it did in the past”, says Renato Kfouri, vice president of Sbim (Brazilian Society of Immunizations).

For him, however, it remains of paramount importance to keep immunization up to date. After all, it was mainly thanks to the vaccine that the disease reached this reduced level. “The recommendations to have your basic vaccination schedules complete are still valid.”

For the low demand to be circumvented, Fernandes claims that the Ministry of Health takes measures. The launch of the national movement for vaccination tries to raise awareness and mobilize people and entities from across society in support of the cause. Actions are also being taken against the spread of false news, in addition to the adoption of a pro-immunization stance by the federal government: President Lula’s (PT) vaccination with bivalent reinforcement is an example.

Vaccination in children is lower

The problem of immunization coverage is even more critical among children aged 6 months to 4 years. At this age, the most recommended regimen is three doses of the Pfizer model for this audience. So far, 1.4% have reached the full scheme. “It’s not three shots for nothing, it’s calculated to be like that”, says Dalcolmo.

For those between 3 and 4 years old, there is also the possibility of vaccination with two doses of Coronavac, with the recommendation of a third booster dose. For this scheme, the additional application is almost nil across the country, considering the eligible population.

Marcelo Otsuka, vice-president of the department of infectology at the Society of Pediatrics of São Paulo (SPSP), says that it is essential to vaccinate the little ones. “We never know if there will be new mutations and how the virus will behave.”

Similarly, fake news greatly affected confidence in childhood vaccines. But, for Otsuka, misinformation had an even greater harm to children, since parents are responsible for taking them to the posts and several of them were afraid to immunize their children. Fernandes, from the Ministry of Health, reiterates the point. “The child does not decide for his vaccination. That depends on the parents.”

The ministry technician also claims that a problem was the delay in starting vaccination among younger people. The recommendation of the drug for the entire public in the age group between 6 months and 4 years only occurred on December 27, 2022. “It was a time when the perception of the disease was already different. social isolation.”

In such a scenario, communication to raise awareness among parents needs to be efficient. Otsuka, however, says he believes that the ministry is still slipping in this regard, with little use of social media to issue alerts in favor of immunization. “We need to change tactics.”

Collaborated with Nicholas Pretto