Bivalent vaccines against Covid begin to be applied in 16 capitals this Monday (27)

As of this Monday (27), people over 70 years old, immunocompromised people, indigenous communities, riverside communities and quilombolas will be able to receive a booster dose against Covid-19 with the bivalent version of immunizers.

Bivalent vaccines have updated strains against the coronavirus, including protection against the Omicron variant – learn how they work here. Immunizers were approved by the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) in November 2022. The first batches of bivalent vaccines arrived in the country in December.

There are two different types of vaccines:

• Bivalent BA.1 – protects against the original variant and also against the Omicron BA1 variant;
• Bivalent BA.4/BA.5 – protects against the original variant as well as the Omicron BA.4/BA.5 variant.

According to a survey carried out by the CNN at least 16 capitals will start vaccination on Monday: Porto Alegre (RS), São Paulo (SP), Porto Velho (RO), Boa Vista (RR), Palmas (TO), Macapá (AP), São Luís (MA), Teresina (PI), Natal (RN), Maceió (AL), Aracaju (SE), Goiânia (GO), Brasília (DF), Curitiba (PR), Belo Horizonte (MG) and Rio de Janeiro (RJ).

At least five capitals have already started applying the updated doses: Manaus (AM), João Pessoa (PB), Recife (PE), Campo Grande (MS) and Vitória (ES) . Immunization with bivalent vaccines begins on Wednesday (1st) in Cuiabá (MT).

Five cities still do not have information about the application: Fortaleza (CE), Salvador (BA), Belém (PA), Rio Branco (AC) and Florianópolis (SC).

According to the Ministry of Health, the campaign will be divided into stages, check out:

• Phase 1: people over 70 years old, immunocompromised people, indigenous, riverside and quilombola communities;
• Phase 2: people between 60 and 69 years old;
• Phase 3: pregnant and postpartum women;
• Phase 4: health professionals.

National Vaccination Movement

The Ministry of Health launches, this Monday (27), a National Movement for Vaccination . The initiative provides for actions to expand coverage of all vaccines available in the Unified Health System (SUS).

The launch of the campaign will take place in Brasília with the participation of the president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) and the Minister of Health, Nísia Trindade.

In this first stage, immunization against Covid-19 will be reinforced for priority groups across the country. The broad immunization campaign will initially focus on the elderly, people with comorbidities and individuals with disabilities.