STF Justice Lewandowski grants Brazil’s government 48 hours to state its position on children vaccination

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Federal Supreme Court Justice Ricardo Lewandowski is analyzing the request for the inclusion of this age group in the National Immunization Plan following the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency’s (ANVISA) approval.

Last Thursday, December 15, ANVISA completed a technical evaluation of Pfizer’s request for authorization to use the Comirnaty vaccine against Covid-19 in children 5 to 11 years old. However, there is still no expected date for the immunization to begin.

Lewandowski’s decision is part of a response to a lawsuit brought by opposition parties in October last year, which demanded effective measures for the immunization of the population. The PT (Workers Party) asked the STF to establish a schedule for the distribution of vaccines to children between the ages of 5 and 11.

“The federal government must present the complementation of the National Vaccination Plan within 48 hours, to include the steps to be taken to begin and end the vaccination of children between the ages of 5 and 11 against Covid-19, including a schedule that will enable adequate vaccination coverage of the entire child population before the resumption of classes, as well as the provision of a national day (D-Day) for vaccination, or even the designation of potential dates for the implementation of large campaigns to encourage vaccination,” Lewandowski says in the suit.

Despite having the same active principle of the drug that Brazil purchased and administered to people over 12 years of age, the vaccine approved for the pediatric population has a different composition – which will require the acquisition of new batches by the Ministry of Health. The doses must be administered at a 21-day interval, and each with a 10-microgram dose.

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