RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Pfizer pharmaceutical company said Friday that it expects to start delivering its Covid-19 vaccine for children to the Brazilian government in January.
“Pfizer is working with the government to determine the delivery schedule for Covid-19 vaccines to immunize the 5 to 11 year-old age group, with deliveries estimated to start in January 2022,” the company said in a statement.
However, in a rare measure, as it is legally up to ANVISA to certify vaccine safety and efficacy, the Ministry of Health decided to hold a public hearing on the matter, with Minister of Health Marcelo Queiroga stating last week that the number of children killed by the pandemic in Brazil does not justify the urgency to start immunizing this age group.
President Jair Bolsonaro has frequently and with no scientific grounds challenged the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines.
In a recent stream on his social networks, he said he had asked for the names of those responsible for ANVISA’s decision to release Pfizer’s vaccine for children to be made public. After that, the number of threats, including of death, against the agency’s employees increased.