It is necessary to look at what happens in other countries, says Minister of Health - ISTOÉ MONEY

Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga said today (16) that state and city governments, together with the federal government, should discuss the measures to be taken to prevent the number of covid-19 cases from increasing again, example of what has been happening in other countries, especially the Europeans.

“What we want is to return to normality as soon as possible, but we need to look at what is happening in other countries,” said Queiroga when asked if the set of measures related to vaccination announced this morning takes into account the approach of festive dates that they usually gather crowds, such as New Year’s Eve and Carnival.

“We are following the epidemiological scenario. So, at any sign that there may be an increase in cases, the easing measures can, of course, be revised. Either in the sense of restricting or in the sense of making them more liberal,” said the minister, speaking specifically about the 2022 carnival. “It is an issue that needs to be discussed.”

Europe

In recent weeks, several European countries have announced the resumption of some health restrictions to try to contain the resurgence of cases of infection by the new coronavirus, including Germany, Austria, Denmark, France and the United Kingdom.

The World Health Organization (WHO) stated that the battle of European countries against the disease it is a “red flag” to the rest of the world as the virus continues to circulate.

booster dose

In Brazil, the Ministry of Health will promote, between the next 20th and 26th, the Mega Vaccination campaign to encourage the population to take all the recommended doses of the vaccine, completing the basic immunization cycle.

Currently, there are 21 million people who, for different reasons, have not attended a health clinic in order to take the second dose of the covid-19 vaccine. The Ministry of Health guarantees that there are immunization agents to attend to all of them.

The ministry also announced changes to the vaccination schedule. The time interval for the application of the booster dose (third dose), which used to be six months after the second, is now five months – for those who took Coronavac, Pfizer or AstraZeneca/Oxford.

Those who received immunizing from Janssen, previously indicated as a single dose, will also receive a second dose – which should be applied two months after the first -, in addition to a booster dose, five months after the second.

In addition, the folder has expanded the age range of those who should receive the third dose, recommending it to everyone over 18 years of age. The new guidelines will be implemented by the health departments of states and municipalities.

“Our goal is, through the Mega Vaccination campaign [e das novas orientações], further expand access [da população às vacinas] and convince people to seek out the Basic Health Units [UBS] to, from then on, acquire even more the confidence of the Brazilian people and an efficient sanitary control to avoid possible new waves of covid-19”, said Queiroga.