Brazil starts administering bivalent COVID-19 vaccine

BRASILIA. KAZINFORM Brazil begins to administer a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine this Monday (Feb. 27), all over the country. According to the Ministry of Health, the vaccine improves immunity against the original strain virus and against Omicron variant and has a safety and efficacy profile similar to that of monovalent vaccines.

«The monovalent vaccine, as the name implies, has only one type of the virus that causes COVID. It was originally created with the so-called ancestral virus, the first one that appeared in China in late 2019. So, all the vaccines that we had and used until now were monovalent, regardless of the manufacturer laboratory,» explained the director of the Brazilian Society of Immunizations, Juarez Cunha, Agência Brasil reports.

Initially, the vaccine will be administered only in the so-called risk groups. According to the ministry, immunization will be done as follows: in phase 1, people over 70, immunocompromised, indigenous, river dwellers and quilombolas; in phase 2, people aged between 60 and 69; in phase 3, pregnant and postpartum women; and in phase 4, health professionals.

«Based on observations made in these three years of the pandemic, these are the people who have suffered the most from the disease,» Cunha said.

In Brazil, two bivalent vaccines, both produced by Pfizer laboratory, have received authorization from Brazil’s national drug regulator Anvisa for emergency use. They are indicated as a single booster dose for children and adults, two months after the completion of the primary vaccination cycle, or as the last booster dose.

Monovalent COVID-19 shots are still available in basic health units (UBS) for the general population and are classified as «highly effective against the disease,» ensuring a high degree of immunity and avoiding mild cases, severe cases and deaths caused by the disease, the ministry informed.

Photo: agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br