Ministry of Health monitors new variants of Covid – 12/06/2023 – Health

The Ministry of Health is monitoring new subvariants of Covid. New to Brazil, JN.1 and BA.2.86.1 were initially identified in Ceará. The first already corresponds to 3.2% of detections in the world.

JG.3, derived from EG.5, popularly known as Éris, was isolated in the same northeastern state, but did not become predominant there. The strain has been monitored by the agency in recent months, in the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Goiás.

According to the WHO (World Health Organization), at least JN.1 and JG.3 have been found in 47 countries.

According to the Executive Secretary of Health Surveillance of Ceará, Antonio Silva Lima Neto, the state showed low transmission of the coronavirus until the beginning of November, with a slight increase in positivity. Over the course of the month, it became accelerated. As the epidemiological pattern had changed rapidly, the first hypothesis was the introduction of variants with vaccine escape.

“In the sequencing on November 30th, 47 samples came back. Of these, 38 were identified as JN.1 and one as BA.2.86.1, which are descendants of BA.2.86, from omicron. JN.1 was isolated in Denmark and it produced many cases in Continental Europe, in the United States, but had not yet been isolated in Brazil. It is a subvariant that adds vaccine escape”, explains the secretary.

There are cases of JN.1 in several municipalities in Ceará, with prevalence in Fortaleza. The identification of the variants was carried out by the Ceará Central Public Health Laboratory.

Bivalent vaccination coverage in Ceará is around 19%, mostly concentrated in the elderly; that of monovalent is around 70%.

It seems that the variants are not responsible for serious cases of Covid, but it is too early to say. “JN.1 has not been examined by the WHO. The WHO allowed itself to say that there was no evidence of more severe cases. This variant is very new. We are still monitoring it. I think it is premature to say that the variant is incapable of producing more severe cases”, highlights Neto.

Among the recommendations of the State Department of Health of Ceará are the use of masks by the vulnerable population, ventilation of environments, encouraging vaccination with an active search for those who are not immunized and monitoring through testing.

The Ministry of Health made an epidemiological surveillance team available to go to Ceará, if necessary, and sent a booster of 900 antiviral treatments for mild cases of Covid in people over 65 and immunosuppressed people aged 18 or over. Around 35 thousand reactions for molecular diagnosis of the virus and 30 thousand rapid antigen tests were also sent to the state.

It is important to complete the Covid vaccination schedule immediately. From 2024, the vaccine against Covid-19 will be included in the Ministry of Health’s National Vaccination Calendar and doses will only be made available to priority groups.

In addition to children over six months and under five years of age, the target audience includes the elderly, immunocompromised people, pregnant women, postpartum women, health workers, people with comorbidities, indigenous people, riverside dwellers, quilombolas, people living in long-term institutions and its workers, people with permanent disabilities, people deprived of liberty over 18 years of age, teenagers and young people undergoing socio-educational measures, prison system employees and people living on the streets.