Covid: Brazil applies 1 million doses of the bivalent vaccine – 03/04/2023 – Health

The Ministry of Health released this Saturday (4) the number of doses of the bivalent vaccine against Covid applied in the first week of immunization: 1,019,082.

This year’s Covid vaccination campaign began last Monday (27) with the immunization of priority groups which, at this stage, include people over 60 years of age (the schedule may vary according to the availability of doses in some states).

The bivalent vaccine against Covid is an update of the immunizers used against the coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic and contains the original Wuhan strain and the omicron variant.

Its efficacy and safety have been confirmed in scientific studies around the world, and the vaccine has been approved as a booster by several regulatory agencies, including Anvisa.

Data on applied doses are available on the Vaccinômetro portal, from the Secretariat for Information and Digital Health.

Almost half (492,491) of the bivalent doses were applied in the state of São Paulo. In Rio de Janeiro, almost 130,000 doses were applied, followed by RS (82,528), MG (57,471), PR (34,041) and CE (22,420).

The bivalent vaccine offers greater protection for people considered to be at risk for severe illness from Covid, especially against new variants of the virus, such as XBB and its subvariants, which have greater immune escape compared to other strains.

Despite this, monovalent vaccines continue to offer high protection against hospitalization and death, according to experts.

In recent weeks there has been an increase in cases of Srag (severe acute respiratory syndrome) due to Covid in at least sixteen states, according to Fiocruz’s InfoGripe bulletin, with data up to February 25.

In São Paulo and Amazonas, especially in adults, there was a tendency for Srag to increase, indicating the circulation of flu (in the case of Amazonas) and Covid (in the case of São Paulo) related to the increase in respiratory syndrome.

There is also growth in São Paulo in children and adolescents, which may be related to other respiratory viruses. In Rio de Janeiro and Ceará, however, growth can also be seen in the elderly.

The bivalent vaccine is essential to guarantee the protection of priority groups, reinforce specialists.