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The Ministry of Health reported this Tuesday (1) that the vaccines against Covid-19 that will be included in the National Immunization Plan must be “fundamentally” thermostable and that they can be stored at temperatures between 2 ° C and 8 ° C.
In practice, the announcement means that the vaccine developed by the American Pfizer and the German BioNTech should not be applied in Brazil, since it requires special storage conditions, with temperatures of -70ºC.
On Tuesday, Pfizer applied to European drug regulatory authorities for authorization for emergency use of its vaccine. The same process had already begun in the United States. Pfizer has published studies showing that its vaccine is 95% effective against the new coronavirus.
At a press conference, the Secretary of Health Surveillance of the Ministry, Arnaldo Medeiros, stated that it is desirable that the vaccine be applied in a single dose and that it also be “fundamentally” thermostable for long periods, at temperatures of 2 ° C to 8 ° C. C. The portfolio representative did not specifically mention any vaccine.
“What do we want from a vaccine? What is the profile of a desired vaccine? Of course, it provides protection against serious and moderate diseases, which is highly effective, which is safe, which is capable of inducing immunological memory, which has the possibility of use in different age groups, and in groups. populations, ”said the secretary.
“And the ideal is that it be done in a single dose, although many times this may not be possible, it is only possible in more than one dose, but fundamentally that it is thermostable for long periods, at temperatures of two to eight degrees. Why? Because our cold chain, in these 34 thousand rooms, is assembled and established with a cold chain of approximately 2 ° C and 8 ° C “
In Brazilian logistics, there are currently no freezers for this in the so-called Rede de Frio, of the National Immunization Program of Brazil. Today, the standard of vaccine maintenance in the world is done in refrigerators, with temperatures similar to those of home refrigerators.
The yellow fever and polio vaccines, specifically, require storage at lower temperatures (-15ºC to -25ºC), in equipment such as scientific freezers. Before being administered, the two vaccines migrate to the “standard” temperature of the refrigerators, 2 ° C and 8 ° C, where they can remain up to a month.
Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine, called BNT162b2, lasts for just five days at standard refrigerator temperatures.
The secretary also stated that, from the “ideal point of view”, the vaccine against Covid-19 should present a technology of low production cost.
Medeiros affirmed that the national vaccination plan against Covid-19 will be concluded only after the registration of an immunizer by Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency). The secretary said that there will be a meeting of the technical working group on Tuesday and that there is a possibility that an earlier version will be published later this week.
The Ministry of Health is working on a vaccination plan through ten axes, including one that analyzes the epidemiological situation, another that updates the vaccines under study, and a unit that monitors and budgets.
Medeiros reiterated the information that the vaccine should not be offered to the entire Brazilian population in the first stage of vaccination. Priority will be given to groups at risk, such as the elderly and people with chronic diseases, in addition to workers in essential services. In this specific case, the secretary cited health workers as an example.
The secretary also affirmed that Brazil has the main immunization program in the world and will use this structure to apply the vaccine against Covid-19. The structure, he explains, comprises a total of 34,000 vaccination rooms, a figure that can increase to 50,000 during the campaigns. The country has 114,000 vaccinators.
