Brazil’s São Paulo is short of AstraZeneca vaccines for second dose

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The São Paulo government yesterday, September 9, reported that AstraZeneca vaccines for the second dose are in short supply in the state.  The state Health Secretariat is urging the Ministry of Health to supply additional doses.

However, according to the ministry, the vaccines have already been sent, but the state used them as the first dose, against the recommendations of the National Immunization Plan.

“The Federal Government’s Ministry of Health failed to send approximately 1 million AstraZeneca second dose vaccines to São Paulo, causing a real vaccine shortage in the state’s 645 municipalities. The deadline for the administration of these doses began to expire on September 4,” the state government said in a statement.

It added that, in the event of unavailability of more AstraZeneca deliveries, it requests the immediate sending of Pfizer doses to supply the demand and complete the vaccination schedules in accordance with the interchangeability solution recommended by the federal government.

However, the Ministry of Health says it does not owe the state of São Paulo any batches of the second dose of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine. “To date, 12.4 million AstraZeneca first doses and 9.2 million second doses have been delivered to the state. The 2.8 million doses have not been sent because the interval between the first and second dose will only occur at the end of the month,” the Ministry said.

According to the Ministry of Health, data entered by São Paulo in LocalizaSUS show that the state used vaccines intended for the second dose as the first dose. “The state administered 13.99 million first doses and 6.67 million second doses. The changes in the National Immunization Plan recommendations led to a shortage of doses to complete the vaccination schedule of the Brazilian population,” the Ministry added.

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