The Minister of Health, Nísia Trindade, said this Friday (9.Feb.2024) that the ministry purchased all available doses of the dengue vaccine. “If there were more doses, we would certainly buy more”he stated during the start of public vaccination in the Federal District.
Children aged 10 to 11 will have priority in the 1st phase of immunization, which runs until March. This is the group most susceptible to hospitalizations, explained Nísia. After that, the minister predicts that immunization will extend to the 14-year-old group.
Previously, the range expected to receive the first doses already included all children between 10 and 14 years old. According to the minister, the change was designed to serve more municipalities and protect the group most at risk of complications from the disease.
The reduction in the number of doses of the vaccine occurs because the department is not keeping stock of the vaccine, as all available ones are being sent for application.
In a conversation with journalists, Nísia said that the campaign would begin even without the current dengue epidemic at the beginning of the year. Data from the Ministry of Health until Thursday (8.Feb) show that at least 54 people have already died from complications from the disease. There are more than 395 thousand probable cases of dengue.
“We have been waiting for a vaccine against dengue for 40 years, and now we have one incorporated into the SUS”celebrated the minister.
She said the ministry is working to purchase more vaccines as soon as possible. The ministry must also purchase doses of the vaccine from the Butantã Institute with the approval of Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency).
CASES COULD EXCEED 4 MILLION
Earlier this Friday (Feb 9), the Health Surveillance Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Ethel Maciel, said that the number of dengue cases could reach the 4.2 million mark this year. She attributed the record to the anticipation of the peak in cases, which usually happens at the end of the 1st quarter.
“We are seeing an anticipation of cases that we had not seen in other dengue epidemics. In general, the growth in cases occurs at the end of March and beginning of April, but we started to see it in January”, said Ethel Maciel.
Goiás and the Federal District received doses against the disease intended for children aged 10 and 11. According to Ethel Maciel, the idea is that, as new batches arrive, the government will expand the age range for immunization.
