Brazil closed 2022 with low vaccination coverage in almost all immunizations. | Photo: EFE​

Brasilia, January 27 (RHC)-- The Brazilian Ministry of Health has announced that it plans to start a new immunization campaign with the bivalent vaccine, which offers protection against the new variants of COVID-19, at the end of February.

The perspective was presented during the first regular meeting of the Tripartite Inter-Institutional Commission (CIT) of 2023, held in Brasilia (capital), at the headquarters of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

The agency plans to start the campaign on February 27 and, in the first phase, immunization with the bivalent booster will be given to immunocompromised people over 70 years of age who live in nursing homes or belong to indigenous, riverine and quilombola communities.

In the second phase, people between 60 and 69 years of age will be reached, and in a third phase, pregnant women and puerperal women will be reached, and finally, health professionals will be reached.

The director of the Department of Immunizations and Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (SVSA/MS), Éder Gatti, stated that Brazil closed 2022 with low vaccination coverage in almost all immunizations.

"We also found a low vaccine stock.  Therefore, we have a real risk of shortage of important immunizations for our calendar, such as BCG, Hepatitis B and MMR, for example," said Gatti.

For her part, the Minister of Health, Nísia Trindade, highlighted the importance of strengthening the inter-federal dialogue between the Union, states and municipalities, and emphasized the value of joint work in decision-making.