The Ministry of Health estimates that more than 85.9 million booster doses have been applied against Covid-19 in the country so far. The data are from the LocalizaSUS platform.
In an interview with CNN this Friday (3), the director of the Brazilian Society of Immunizations (SBIm), Renato Kfouri, highlighted the importance of adherence to the third dose of immunizers against the disease.
“We need to change this concept that the regimen is two doses, the schedule is three doses we have only 60% of the population with three doses , with the booster dose or third dose. That name should not even be called a reinforcement, the third dose is part of the primary protection regimen . So much so that teenagers need three doses,” said Kfouri.
According to the doctor, severe cases of the disease are concentrated in unvaccinated individuals or who have not completed the vaccination schedule, in addition to children under five years of age, for whom there is no vaccine available, the elderly and immunocompromised.
“The group that hospitalizes and worsens today are those who are not properly vaccinated, who do not have three doses, children who have not yet had the opportunity to vaccinate, children under five years of age, the elderly who are known to lose protection quickly and those who are immunocompromised in that you will hardly get adequate protection”, he said.
The specialist believes that complementary measures should be taken to increase the protection of people most vulnerable to infection.
“We need to couple the vaccination in these elderly and immunocompromised with other measures, monoclonal and antiviral antibodies, we are behind in these measures, in the incorporation of technology in the SUS. We need strategies such as these long-lasting antibodies that protect individuals for up to six months, antivirals to treat early on those who are known to be at risk of developing severe forms of the disease”, he adds.
For Kfouri, the expansion of the second booster dose for people over 50 years old, under evaluation by the Ministry of Health, is a wise move.
“There is no doubt that individuals over 50 years of age, who often already have a chronic disease, hypertension, diabetes, heart problems would benefit greatly, as well as health professionals who, also due to their exposure, should receive their second reinforcement”, he concluded.
Source: CNN Brasil
