Brazil Health Ministry does not yet recommend 3rd dose of vaccine against Covid-19

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – During a press conference at the Ministry of Health on Monday, 26, the extraordinary secretary for Confronting the Covid-19 from the Ministry of Health, Rosana Leite, ruled out a third dose – or booster dose – of any immunization in the country.

She said that the government has strengthened immunization campaigns against Covid-19 in border regions in order to prevent the entry and spread of variant Delta, “the greatest concern of the Ministry of Health,” she said.

Leite added that the folder is already discussing the vaccine calendar for next year, which will be the subject of a forum for discussion among Brazilian experts.

“We don’t recommend third doses of any vaccines yet. These issues are the subject of studies and analysis here at the Ministry, through our Technical Chambers,” said Leite.

The Secretary reinforced the resumption of the vaccination of pregnant and postpartum women who had received the first dose of AstraZeneca’s vaccine against Covid-19, provided the vaccines are interchangeable. In May, the application of AstraZeneca’s vaccine in the group was suspended after suspicion that it could lead to cases of thrombosis and death.

Instead of AstraZeneca, Rosana Leite informed that preference should be given to the Pfizer vaccine in the group.

According to her, there are already studies showing the effectiveness of this exchange, or Coronavac, “which shows good effectiveness”.

The Secretary also pointed out that interchangeability is not allowed in “normal” cases. According to her, except for pregnant and postpartum women, the interchangeability should still be considered a vaccine error and reported in the ministry platform.