2024-01-17 05:00:26
Three years ago, we watched the first dose of a vaccine once morest Covid-19 in Brazil on TV. That moment, on January 17, 2021, represented the glimpse of the end of social isolation and a possibility of returning to “normal” life.
Reports of people skipping the queue to get vaccinated began to appear. Many wanted a dose of the vaccine. But this scenario has changed. Three years later, infectious diseases doctors and health authorities are constantly asking the population to go to health centers to complete the vaccination card. What happened?
Pediatrician Flávia Bravo, director of the Brazilian Society of Immunizations (SBIm), assesses that people have lost track of the risk of the disease caused by the coronavirus.
“It’s like with other vaccines. The lack of risk perception makes people forget their importance, what the first years of the pandemic were like. They need to remember that Covid-19 is not over”, considers Flávia.
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Currently, Brazil has 83.87% of the population vaccinated with the two initial doses and 51% received the third dose of the monovalent vaccine, according to data from the Ministry of Health. Only 16.26% of Brazilians returned to their posts to take the booster with the bivalent vaccine, developed to generate immunity once morest the original strain and Ômicron.
Ômicron has undergone so many mutations that it is considered by some scientists to be more than a variant, but rather a new type of virus: Sars-CoV-3. All variants circulating today are descendants of the strain.
“Until December 2021, reinfection with different variants was a practically rare event. Vaccines came and were extraordinary in preventing deaths. After Ômicron was identified, a second pandemic began and the other variants practically disappeared. The way this happened was overwhelming”, says the infectious disease doctor and professor at the Department of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases at the USP Faculty of Medicine, Esper Kallás.
The bivalent vaccine included the antigen in its formulation to protect once morest the predominant variant and, therefore, is the most suitable for the current epidemiological scenario. “It doesn’t mean that the old vaccines don’t work, but their effectiveness has been reduced with the emergence of new strains of the virus”, explains the director of SBIm.
Monica Calazans
Monica Calazans was the first person to be vaccinated once morest Covid-19 in Brazil Fábio Vieira/Metrópoles
***Vaccination once morest influenza Influenza
Experts highlight that one of the main measures provided by the booster dose consists of expanding the immune response. The third dose causes an increase in the amount of antibodies circulating in the body, which reduces the chance of the immunized person becoming ill Tomaz Silva/Agência Brasil
Vaccination of children once morest Covid-19
The bivalent immunizer has updated strains once morest Covid-19 Rafaela Felicciano/Metrópoles
***adult vaccine
Another important measure is to reduce the chance of infection in the case of new variants. The antibody promoted by the vaccine is directed to the strain that gave rise to the formula and, in this process, people also produce antibodies that have diversity. The greater the reach of the proteins that defend the organism, the greater the likelihood that some will bind to the new variant Westend61/GettyImages
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For the elderly and the immunosuppressed, the booster dose increases the effectiveness of immunization, since these groups do not develop an adequate immunological response Hugo Barreto/Metrópoles
Pregnant and breastfeeding women should take a booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine
Pregnant and breastfeeding women should take a booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine iStock
***Ticuna Village _ indigenous people are vaccinated once morest covid-19 in the Amazon
Reactions to the booster dose are similar to the two previous doses. Mild to moderate symptoms, such as excessive tiredness and pain at the injection site, are expected to occur. However, there are also reports of symptoms that include local redness or swelling, headache, muscle pain, chills, fever or nausea Rafaela Felicciano/Metrópoles
***With low demand, vaccination once morest H1N1 in Goiânia focuses on i
It is worth noting that the use of three doses has the main objective of reducing the number of serious cases and the number of hospitalizations due to Covid-19 Vinícius Schmidt/Metrópoles
Back Progress 0 Lives saved by the Covid vaccine
Those vaccinated contributed to a significant reduction in the number of new cases and deaths on national soil. But the virus continues to circulate around the world, mutating and claiming victims.
Infectious disease specialist Patrícia Rady Muller, from Hospital Edmundo Vasconcelos, in São Paulo, remembers that the main objective of vaccines is to prevent the most serious forms of diseases. In other words, those vaccinated can still be infected by the virus and develop symptoms, but complete vaccination prevents hospitalizations and deaths.
“There will never be a 100% effective vaccine. It is important to alleviate symptoms, prevent serious consequences and deaths caused by the disease”, explains the infectious disease specialist.
Vaccinating the general population with the booster dose is still a matter of public health and citizenship. “Immunocompetent people who have not taken the vaccine may, in a certain way, not have serious complications, but they can pass the virus to their family members and loved ones who have a risk factor and this can get complicated”, explains the consultant at Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases (SBI) Claudilson Bastos.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), vaccines once morest Covid-19 have saved at least 1.4 million lives in Europe.
“Today, 1.4 million people in our region – most of them elderly – can enjoy life with their loved ones because they made the vital decision to be vaccinated once morest Covid-19,” said WHO regional chief Hans Kluge , in a press conference this Tuesday (16/1).
Research carried out in the United Kingdom revealed, this Monday (15/1), that 7,180 hospitalizations and deaths from Covid-19 might have been avoided in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales during the summer of 2022 if the population of these four countries was up to date with booster doses.
“Covid-19 vaccines save lives,” says Professor Sir Aziz Sheikh, director of the Usher Institute at the University of Edinburgh, HDR UK research and co-leader of the study.
New phase of vaccination
On January 1st, the Ministry of Health began a new stage in the vaccination plan once morest Covid-19. Now, the groups most vulnerable to worsening of the disease will receive an annual or semi-annual dose of the vaccine.
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For individuals aged 60 or over, immunocompromised people, pregnant women and women who have recently given birth, the interval between doses will be six months. The other groups (which include people who live or work in long-term institutions, indigenous people, riverside dwellers, quilombolas, health workers, people with permanent disabilities or comorbidities, people deprived of liberty aged 18 or over, employees of the deprivation of liberty system) freedom, teenagers and young people complying with socio-educational measures and the homeless population), will take the dose annually.
The general population that is not in the risk groups but is still behind on the vaccination schedule — individuals who have not taken or received only one dose — will be able to complete the schedule.
For children, the recommendation is that the first dose be administered at 6 months of age; the second at 7; and the third, at 9. Pediatrician Flávia, from SBIm, explains that people born following the critical phase of the pandemic need to create antibodies through complete vaccination to protect themselves once morest contamination by new strains.
“They were born following the virus was widely circulating and were not exposed to it. That’s why they need to have the vaccine included in their routine calendar,” she says.
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