Ministry of Health Says Brazil Has Excess of Vaccines, but States Say There Aren't Enough
At least six states say they do not have enough doses to administer in the future
Minister Marcelo Queiroga (Health) praised the federal government's logistics and said that there is an "excess of vaccines" in the country.
However, at least six states could not start administering the second dose against Covid on the planned date due to the lack of immunization agents, especially AstraZeneca, produced by Fiocruz.
São Paulo, Bahia, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Espírito Santo and Rio Grande do Norte told Folha that administering the second dose earlier, a measure recommended due to the advance of the delta variant, is unfeasible because the ministry has delayed the doses.
Questioned, Queiroga said there was no problem. "There is an excess of vaccine. Brazil has already distributed 260 million doses, 210 million already administered," he said in Guarulhos (SP). "Brazil is already one of the countries that vaccinates the most."
The first dose has already been given to almost 66% of the population of 213 million, but the necessary second injection has reached only 36%.
For this reason, Brazil registers one of the biggest gaps between those who have just started the vaccination scheme and those who were able to complete it – in the latter group there is the single dose of Janssen.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon