In an interview with CNN this Wednesday (1st) the Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, evaluated the current moment of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.
“We are no longer living a public health emergency. of national importance and the ministry’s decision was based on technical bases”, said Queiroga. “Today, thanks to the public policies adopted by the Ministry of Health – which I emphasize that the main one is the strong vaccination campaign, we managed to strongly reduce the number of deaths. The moving average of deaths from the last few days and even months is less than 120 cases per day,” he said.
The state of Public Health Emergency of National Importance (Espin), caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, ended on May 22. To make this decision, the ministry considered the response capacity of the Unified Health System (SUS), the improvement in the epidemiological scenario in the country and the advance of the vaccination campaign.
According to the minister, the increase in cases of the disease recently registered in the country is a natural trend in view of the relaxation of restriction measures.
“Of course, states and municipalities had already relaxed measures, such as the use of masks, it was already a fact. Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo held off-season carnivals and these easing measures naturally cause cases to increase “, said.
Queiroga says that the increase in cases is also associated with the Ômicron variant, which is highly transmissible compared to other strains of the new coronavirus.
“This Ômicron variant is more transmissible, but fortunately, with the population widely vaccinated, there is not too much pressure on the health system and we have the number of deaths within a level that is much lower than the more than 3,000 cases in the past. ”, said the minister.
Vaccination
According to the minister, more than 500 million doses of vaccine against Covid-19 have already been distributed to Brazilian states and municipalities. “More than 80% have already received the primary vaccination schedule. We have advanced in a first booster dose that, in those over 50 years of age, the coverage is wide. Now, we authorize a booster dose for teenagers”, said Queiroga.
Currently, the Ministry of Health recommends the 2nd booster dose for the elderly over 60 years and for the immunosuppressed population. The second booster dose should be given four months after the first. The orientation is that the second reinforcement is done, preferably, with Pfizer.
According to Queiroga, the Ministry of Health evaluates with the technical groups that advise the folder the expansion of this public to include people over 50 years of age.
In a note, the ministry stated that “The inclusion of new groups in the vaccination campaign against Covid-19 is under discussion by the Technical Advisory Chamber on Immunizations. Any eventual change will be detailed by means of a technical note”.
Source: CNN Brasil
