June 30 is the deadline for unvaccinated boys and girls ages 11-14 to receive the meningococcal ACWY (conjugate) vaccine. The Ministry of Health announced the temporary extension of the vaccination age for this target audience, through a technical note, issued in September 2022.
The technical advisor for immunization of the municipal health department, Leonardo Cordero, recalls that after the end of the date set by the federal government, the vaccine will be made available again only to adolescents between the ages of 11 and 12. The Ministry of Health’s decision to temporarily expand the public for immunization was due to the fact that adolescents are primarily responsible for maintaining the circulation of the disease in the country.
Meningococcal ACWY vaccine was introduced into the vaccination routine for adolescents in 2020. The vaccine is available in the Ministry of Health’s National Immunization Calendar, indicating administration of a dose or a booster dose, depending on vaccination status, to adolescents aged 11 and over 12 years. Thus, until June, it will be available for those who are 13 or 14 years old and also to update the vaccination schedule for adolescents aged 11 to 12 years.
Another vaccine for boys and girls, which was incorporated into the SUS in 2014, is the vaccine that protects against human papillomavirus (HPV). Currently, the vaccine is indicated for people between the ages of 9 and 14 and for groups with special clinical conditions up to the age of 45 (those with HIV / AIDS, transplants of solid organs or bone marrow and cancer patients). For this group, the vaccine is available at the Special Immunobiology Reference Center (Crie), which operates in the Department of Health, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Campos was the first medium-sized Brazilian municipality to provide, free of charge, as of October 2010, under former Mayor Rosinha Garotinho, the HPV vaccine to girls and boys with a two-dose schedule, within six months.
Between January and May this year, the municipality provided 3,189 doses against HPV and 1,599 doses against meningococcus ACWY. Both vaccines are available at basic health units (UBSs) in the municipality.
