Dengue vaccination in São Paulo starts without stock for target audience

The city of São Paulo began this Thursday (4) vaccination against dengue in adolescents between 10 and 14 years old, following the standards recommended by the National Immunization Program (PNI). According to the capital's health secretary Carlos Zamarco, he states that there are not yet enough doses to meet the entire demand of the target audience.

Supply and demand

In the capital of São Paulo, the Department of Health counts around 867 thousand children old enough to receive immunizations against dengue and, at the moment, there are 185 thousand doses left to guarantee the vaccination of the public. Carlos Zamarco, Municipal Health Secretary of São Paulo, stated in a press conference that they are waiting for the vaccines to arrive and as soon as they receive them they will distribute them to the municipality's health units.

The secretary also states that four letters were sent to the Ministry of Health asking for urgency in sending new doses, but three of them were ignored by the federal government. The new vaccines that will arrive are for the first stage of vaccination, as two doses are needed at intervals to be fully vaccinated.

Busy morning at the units

Throughout the morning there was a lot of movement in the Basic Health Units, UBS, in the metropolitan region of the capital of São Paulo looking for vaccines. In Vila Santana the waiting time was around an hour in line between seven and eight in the morning. According to Newspaper Between seven and ten in the morning, the number of vaccinated teenagers reached 27, which is assessed by professionals at the units as good. Professionals say that greater movement is expected after leaving school in the afternoon.

Campaign in São Paulo schools

The city of São Paulo started a campaign to raise awareness of the importance of getting vaccinated against dengue for teenagers, in addition to showing how to take care to avoid outbreaks of the disease at home.

The São Paulo Health Department expected to carry out the vaccination within municipal schools, but a regulation from the Ministry of Health recommended that the doses only be administered in UBS. Carlos Zamarco stated that schools will continue to carry out campaigns to encourage immunization.

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_{New doses will soon arrive in the capital of São Paulo (Photo: reproduction/Buda Mendes/Getty Images Embed)}

Conditions for getting vaccinated in São Paulo

To be eligible for vaccination, you must be between 10 and 14 years old, not have had the disease for at least six months and not have had a high fever in the 24 hours prior to immunization.

The capital of São Paulo declared a state of health emergency on March 18 due to the high number of cases and deaths from the disease. This city council decree allows the municipality to adopt urgent measures to face and contain the risk of a dengue epidemic.

Featured photo: there are still doses left to serve the target audience in São Paulo (Reproduction/Designed by Freepik/ Freepick)