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Brasilia (AFP) – The Brazilian health regulator approved this Thursday the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech laboratories anticovid vaccine in children from 5 to 11 years old, in line with a growing list of countries that endorsed immunizing this age group.
However, it is not clear when the Latin American giant, badly hit by the virus, will start vaccinating them, if at all.
The matter is now in the hands of the Health Ministry, which must first decide whether to add the anticovid vaccines for children to the national immunization program and acquire specific doses for infants (one-third the size of those used for adults).
“Collective vaccination reduces the transmission of Sars-Cov-2 in this age group and, consequently, reduces the transmission from children and adolescents to adults and the elderly,” said Meiruze Freitas, director of the health regulator Anvisa, when announcing the decision.
Brazil is the second country in the world with the most deaths from coronavirus in absolute numbers (more than 617,000), behind the United States.
But infections and deaths have plummeted as vaccination has advanced. Currently, 66% of the 213 million inhabitants are fully immunized.
The massive immunization campaign has progressed despite anti-vaccination comments from far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who has joked that immunizers can transform people into “alligators,” and refuses to get vaccinated.
With the world nervously watching the rise in cases of the new coronavirus variant, the contagious omicron, Germany, Spain, Greece, Croatia and Hungary recently gave the green light to immunize younger children.
Canada, the United States, Israel and Chile also authorized the doses for minors.
© 2021 AFP
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