RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In a meeting with Mayors who took over the management of São Paulo’s cities on January 1st, Health Secretary Jean Gorinchteyn confirmed the start of immunization against Covid-19 in the state on January 25th.
However, for the deadline to be accomplished, emergency use authorization or registration of the CoronaVac vaccine must be granted by the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA). A meeting to discuss the submission of documents to the agency – and also data on the antigen’s efficacy – is scheduled for next Thursday, January 7th. Another meeting to discuss technical matters should occur this Wednesday, January 6th.
The plan proposed to Mayors confirms that vaccination will be conducted in two doses with a 21-day interval. The target audience will be the population aged over 60, healthcare workers, indigenous and quilombolas communities. This population totals nine million São Paulo citizens. According to the Ministry of Health, 77% of deaths in the region were of people in these groups.
The immunizer to be freely distributed is developed by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac Life Science in partnership with the Butantan Institute.
The first group to be vaccinated on January 25th are healthcare workers, indigenous people, and quilombolas communities. Elderly people aged 75 and over will be vaccinated from February 8th; those aged between 70 and 74 will be vaccinated on February 15th; between 65 and 69 on February 22nd and between 60 and 64 on March 1st.
There will be 10,000 vaccination posts. In addition to the 5,200 immunization rooms already in place, schools, State Police headquarters, train stations, bus terminals and drive-thru systems should also be employed. The scheduled times are between Monday and Friday, from 7 AM to 10 PM; Saturday, Sunday and holidays from 7 AM to 5 PM.