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The governor of São Paulo, João Doria (PSDB), said today that vaccination against covid-19 will be mandatory throughout the state if it is approved by Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency). Doria had been repeating in recent weeks that she thought the obligation was correct, but she hadn’t announced the move yet. According to the governor, only people with a medical certificate will be able to receive the vaccine.
Doria also attacked President Jair Bolsonaro (no party) again, accusing him of “politicizing” the vaccine. The attacks face the threat of a lack of agreement between the government of São Paulo and the Ministry of Health so that CoronaVac, a vaccine developed and tested by the Butantan Institute in association with the Chinese laboratory Sinovac, can be distributed in other states by SUS (Unified Health System). The definition, according to Doria, will take place at a meeting next Wednesday (21).
The idea of the São Paulo government is for CoronaVac to be approved by Anvisa (the National Health Surveillance Agency) in time to begin vaccinating health professionals in December in the state. Testing should be completed this weekend and results will be delivered to the agency on Monday.
“In São Paulo it will be mandatory, except for those who have medical guidance and a certificate that they cannot take. And we will adopt legal measures if there is a contradiction in this regard,” Doria said during a press conference at Palácio dos Bandeirantes, in São Paulo.
The governor of São Paulo still hopes that the Butantan immunizer can be distributed throughout the country. For that, Doria will attend a decisive meeting next week, in Brasilia, with the Minister of Health, Eduardo Pazuello. The governor also promises to meet with the director of Anvisa, Antônio Barra, the same day.
“What São Paulo wants is to share the Butantan vaccine so that other states can vaccinate. São Paulo is going to vaccinate. I have already guaranteed that the 45 million Brazilians in São Paulo will be vaccinated,” said Doria, recalling the 46 million doses of CoronaVac promised. until December.
If it is not possible to reach an agreement with the federal government, the government of São Paulo has already stated that it is speaking directly with other states to make the Butantan vaccine available to other federations.
Positive expectation
A summary of CoronaVac’s test reports in Brazil will be sent to Anvisa on Monday (19), but Doria said that the agency already has all the necessary data, as these are monitored daily.
“Until now, without any guarantee, that is, until now, positive tests for CoronaVac, Butantan vaccine with the Sinovac laboratory,” said the governor.
The tests in the country are in the final stretch of phase 3 clinical studies. According to the executive coordinator of the Covid-19 Contingency Center in São Paulo, João Gabbardo, the first two phases of the tests indicated an efficiency of around 98%, while the Ministry of Health speaks of a figure higher than 50% for the approval of Anvisa.
Gabbardo said he believes CoronaVac meets all the requirements listed by the Health Ministry to join the PNI (National Immunization Program).
* With information from Reuters
