Brazilian regulator approves coronavirus vaccine for children ages 5 to 11

The sanitary regulator of Brazil approved this Thursday the use of the COVID-19 vaccine from the Pfizer-BioNTech laboratories in children from 5 to 11 years old, in line with a growing list of countries that endorsed immunizing this age group.

However, it is not clear when the Latin American giant, badly hit by the virus, will start vaccinating minors.

• Bolsonaro’s youngest son is called to testify before the Federal Police
• Lula would be elected president of Brazil in the first round, according to a poll
• Brazil begins to require a health passport to enter the country

The matter is now in the hands of the Ministry of Health, which will first have to decide whether to add the children’s anticovid vaccines to the national immunization program and acquire specific doses for infants (one-third the size of those used for adults).

“Collective vaccination reduces the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in that age group and, consequently, reduces the transmission from children and adolescents to adults and older adults “said Meiruze Freitas, director of the sanitary regulator Anvisa, when announcing the decision.

Brazil It is the second country in the world with the most deaths from coronavirus in absolute numbers (more than 617,000), behind the United States.

But infections and deaths have plummeted as vaccination has advanced. Currently, 66% of the 213 million inhabitants are fully immunized.

The massive immunization campaign has progressed despite anti-vaccine comments from the far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who has joked that immunizers can transform people into “alligator”, and refuses to get vaccinated.

The president said Thursday that he asked “Unofficially” the name of those who approved the vaccination of the children and that the parents “They have the responsibility” reading the note in which Anvisa mentions possible contraindications after the injection.

“You have the right to know the name of the people who approved the vaccine for your children. You decide if it compensates or not “He stated in his weekly broadcast on social networks.

With the world nervously watching the increase in cases of the new variant of the coronavirus, the contagious omicron, Germany, Spain, Greece, Croatia and Hungary recently gave the green light to immunize younger children.

Canada, the United States, Israel and Chile also authorized the doses for minors.

• Next pandemic could be “worse or deadlier,” warns Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine creator
• How the new Super Green Pass complicates social life for the unvaccinated in Italy
• Flight MH370: can one of the great mysteries of aviation finally be solved?
• Plumber finds money hidden in the wall of a megachurch (and could have solved a mysterious robbery from 2014)
• They find dead a young Brazilian who was missing and was forced to dig her own grave
• US Congressman Releases Christmas Family Photo With Guns, Days After School Shooting

.

Deshawn