SAO PAULO (AP) – Some Brazilian cities provide booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine, although most people have not yet received the second shot, as a sign of the country’s concern over the highly contagious delta variant .
Rio de Janeiro, currently Brazil’s epicenter for the variant and home to one of its largest elderly populations, began administering the boosters on Wednesday. The northeastern cities of Salvador and Sao Luis began on Monday and the most populous city in Sao Paulo will begin on September 6th. The rest of the nation will follow next week.
France, Israel, China and Chile are some of the countries giving impetus to some of their senior citizens, but there are more people completely vaccinated than the 30% who have received two shots in Brazil. A U.S. plan to begin delivery of booster shots on Sept. 20 for most Americans faces complications that could delay third doses for those who received the Modern vaccine, officials said Friday. the administration.
About nine out of ten Brazilians have already been vaccinated or plan to do so, according to the Datafolha poll. Most got their first shot, but not the second.
Cases and deaths in Brazil have fallen for two months, with 621 deaths recorded during the seven days through September 2, well below the April high, with more than 3,000 deaths reported over a seven-day period. Older Brazilians have expressed concern about the effectiveness of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine against the delta variant, which has prompted authorities to offer booster shots.
Diana dos Santos, 71, received two shots of the Sinovac vaccine even after President Jair Bolsonaro spent months publicly criticizing it. Dos Santos, who lives in the low-income Maré neighborhood of Rio, has diabetes and was hospitalized for heart disease. He refuses to leave the house until he gets his reinforcement.
“I can’t go out like before and I’m still scared of all that,” Dos Santos said. “I’ll feel safer (with a boost).”
Because of the variant, some experts say the government should slow down the launch of the boosters and focus on the distribution of second doses. Delta is the most contagious variant identified, and many studies have suggested that a dose does not protect it. Two shots offer strong protection, with almost all hospitalizations and deaths among the unvaccinated.
Ethel Maciel, an epidemiologist and professor at the Federal University of Spirito Santo, said pushing the boosters at this early stage recalls the lack of concern given the gamma variant that overwhelmed the Amazonian city of Manaus earlier this year, only to feed a new wave across the country. Brazil has recorded more than 580,000 deaths from COVID-19, making it the home of the world’s eighth highest toll per capita..
“It looks like we’re in the same movie, repeating the same mistakes,” Maciel said. “It’s only a matter of time before what happens in Rio leads to a greater number of cases in the rest of the country.”
The delta variant is already dominant in the state of Rio de Janeiro, detected in 86% of samples collected from patients with COVID-19, according to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. Intensive care units have reached the maximum capacity in eight municipalities, although so far only a small increase in deaths has been recorded.
Sao Paulo state authorities expect a similar scenario in a few weeks. On Tuesday she recorded her first death confirmed by the delta variant, a 74-year-old woman who had received two shots from Sinovac.
Globally, doubts have affected Chinese vaccines, especially since the delta variant has been imposed in many countries. Chinese officials have maintained that the vaccine protects against the delta, especially by preventing hospitalizations and serious cases.
However, Brazilian Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga said on August 25 that people aged 70 and over or with a weak immune system will be eligible for a third dose, starting September 15, preferably with the Pfizer vaccine. He said people over the age of 18 will have received the first doses by then, although he did not address their vulnerability to the delta variant without a second shot.
He also criticized governors and mayors who tried to make booster shots earlier, saying it could lead to a shortage of vaccines.
Carla Domingues, a former coordinator of Brazil’s national vaccination program, agrees on the need to provide reinforcement for the elderly, but not immediately for people 70 and older. Shots should first go to nursing homes and people in the leg, he said, then to people 80 or older, with age slowly decreasing as supply allows.
“Certainly, there will be problems with the shortage, because there will not be enough vaccine,” Domingues said.
Japan and South Korea struggled with a slow deployment of vaccines and less than half of their populations are fully vaccinated; their governments only plan booster shots in the fourth quarter of this year. Malaysia is also considering reinforcements, but Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the priority is those who have not received a first dose.
Thailand began giving booster shots although most people expect to be vaccinated, but only for health and front-line workers who received two shots from Sinovac. The decision came after a nurse died of COVID-19 in July.
Russia, Hungary and Serbia are also giving momentum, although there has been a lack of demand in these countries for initial shots amid abundant supplies.
In addition to doubts about the promoters, the issue is sensitive due to the implications for the global distribution of vaccines.. World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called for a moratorium on promoters “to allow countries that are lagging behind to catch up.”
Epidemiologist Denise Garrett, vice president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, which advocates expanding global access to the vaccine, said in an interview that there is no doubt about the need for twice, but that she sees no scientific justification. nor moral for a third party.
“Authorities giving a third dose give priority to protection against mild illnesses rather than protecting people from poor countries from death,” said Garrett, who is Brazilian. “This is shameful, immoral and this vaccine inequity must end.”
This does not stop Maria Menezes, 97, who wants to spend time away from home where she has lived for the past seven decades in the western region of Rio. Her two daughters say Menezes wants a booster shot.
“She asked us to take her for the third vaccine,” said her daughter Cristina France, 38. “It will be important to strengthen your immunity to reduce your risks. Your life will not change much after the third dose, because it is now more fragile, but you would live more calmly.”
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Alvares reported from Brasilia. Associated Press writers David Biller and Diane Jeantet also collaborated in Rio de Janeiro, along with AP writers from around the world.