Vaccination against monkeypox starts on the 13th – 03/06/2023 – Health

The vaccination campaign against monkeypox will start next Monday (13) in Brazil. The immunizer will be applied to specific groups, such as HIV carriers and professionals who work in laboratories and have contact with the virus.

The country received the first batch of the vaccine against the disease in October last year, but immunizers will only start being applied after five months.

The vaccine was approved by Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) to be used in research, as requested by the previous government. But only on February 26 of this year there was approval to expand its use.

Ethel Maciel, secretary of Health and Environment Surveillance at the Ministry of Health, said that the current vaccination strategy has as its main objective the protection of individuals at greater risk of developing serious forms of the disease.

“We had few doses, as there is only one manufacturer in the world, but we managed to target those who will benefit most from the vaccine, everything defined with the CTAI [Câmara Técnica de Assessoramento em Imunização]. In Brazil, there has been a significant decrease in transmission and the epidemiological scenario, fortunately, is one of decline,” he added.

For people who have not had contact with the virus, vaccination will be applied to men, transvestites and transsexual women with the HIV virus who are 18 years old or older and “with an immunological status identified by the CD4 T lymphocyte count of less than 200 cells in the last six months”, says the technical report.

Laboratory professionals who work directly with the smallpox virus, between 18 and 49 years of age, were also included.

Anyone who has had direct contact with body fluids and secretions of people suspected, probable or confirmed for monkeypox, whose exposure is classified as high or medium risk, according to WHO recommendations (World Health Organization) can also receive the vaccine.

In this case, the person must be between 18 and 49 years old and must attend the vaccination service between 4 and 14 days after exposure to the virus. In this longer period of time, the effectiveness of the vaccine to prevent infection is expected to be reduced, according to a technical report.

This will only occur in cities where there are counties with ten or more confirmed cases of monkeypox in the last 12 weeks. This list includes cities in the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina, Amazonas, Pernambuco, Sergipe, Bahia, Maranhão, Rio Grande do Norte, Pará, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, Goiás, Minas Gerais.

Initially, the Ministry of Health will forward to the states sufficient quantity to vaccinate 50% of the target population of the pre-exposure vaccination. Sending more doses will depend on the progress of vaccination and local demand.

The vaccine is indicated for two doses to complete the vaccination schedule. In pre-exposure vaccination, the recommendation is a 30-day interval with any previously administered vaccine.