The recent increase in the number of admissions of patients with Covid-19 in Rio de Janeiro has put experts and health authorities on alert in the state. They advocate the application of the third dose of the vaccine to the elderly.
This Tuesday (17), seven cities in the state occupied all public intensive care beds. The occupancy rate in two other cities was above 90%: Rio de Janeiro and Duque de Caxias. Last Saturday (14), a study by Vucruz revealed an increase in the number of severe cases and deaths from Covid among elderly people in Rio.
According to Fucruz researcher, Margaret Dalcolmo, one of the highest authorities on Covid in Brazil, the booster vaccine It should be priority.
“For several reasons. Firstly because of the time when the first groups of elderly people in Brazil were vaccinated, mostly Coronavac. Today we are already seeing a higher incidence of disease in this age group, not necessarily from deaths, but in hospitals with the most severe cases in These age groups, ideally from 80 to 70, in our opinion should be vaccinated, yes,” Dalcolmo commented.
In Rio de Janeiro, the biggest concern is the delta variant, which is responsible for most of the Covid cases in the state. According to the Minister of State for Health, Alexander Shebe, the government is waiting for an opinion from the Ministry of Health on the implementation of the third dose of the vaccine.
“The federal government suggests the possibility of taking the third dose, due to lowered immunity, especially for those who received the vaccine a few months ago. There has been no official communication from the ministry yet. So the strategy is not. After it is defined. Obviously. We have a very fast adaptation ability. , if there is an indication for the use of the third dose. But we have not yet been informed by the Ministry of Health”, explained Alexander Ship.
Ryo will apply the third dose in Paquita
In Rio, the city intends to start boosting the vaccine for the elderly, on August 29, on Paquita Island. The island vaccination is part of a study in partnership with Fiocruz to determine which groups would benefit most from the extra dose.
According to the Minister of Health of the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro, Daniel Soranes, the tests in Paquita will be with immunization agents from AstraZeneca or PfizerRegardless of the vaccine received in the first application.
The city of Rio also released calendar months in advance to apply the third dose to seniors, between October and December of this year.
Immunization calendar for the second semester of 2021 – Photo: Publicity / Rio City Hall
The Ministry of Health ‘accompanies studies’
About the necessity of applying the third dose of the vaccine against Covid, the Ministry of Health is still He does not have a specific position.
The federal file only reported that it was “following studies on the effectiveness of vaccines, and that the matter is being analyzed by the Technical Chamber, and that the Ministry is analyzing the proposals of laboratories.”
Last Friday (13), the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) sent a letter to Pfizer requesting clarification regarding studies of the third dose of a vaccine against Covid-19.
The application of the third dose to the elderly is becoming a reality in Chile, Israel and the United Arab Emirates. The UK and Germany plan to start distributing reinforcements in September.
In the United States, the US Medicines Agency has authorized the third dose to be given to people who are immunocompromised or who have had an organ transplant.
However, the World Health Organization (WHO) has asked developed countries, which have already managed to accelerate vaccination, to Postponing the third doseWith the aim of ensuring priority in the distribution of vaccines to the poorest countries.
On Monday (16), the state health department reported that the delta variant was indeed the most frequently found in samples collected by technicians.
Last Friday (13), G1 presented an internal SES document evaluating the capital as the “center of the delta” across the country (remember in the video below). The variant is more contagious than the others.
For this reason, the supervisor of the organization asked the file to make an assessment “as a matter of urgency” of the possibility of increasing the number of vacancies in hospitals in the network.
Accordingly, SES will publish within 15 days a public call to recruit 150 beds for Covid. There are 100 ICUs and 50 dispensaries, but there are still no expectations as to which municipalities should benefit.
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