The Ministry of Health decided to temporarily suspend the use of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine in pregnant and postpartum women in the country after a similar recommendation by Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency). The agency's guidance is for the vaccine list to be followed - it does not include the use of the immunizing agent in pregnant women.
The ministry will also temporarily interrupt the vaccination of all pregnant women who do not have comorbidities. Now, immunization should be followed only for pregnant women who have pre-existing illnesses and with doses of Pfizer and Coronavac vaccines.
According to the coordinator of the National Immunization Program, Francieli Fontana, the measure occurs as a precaution amid the investigation of a death due to stroke in a 35-year-old pregnant woman who received the vaccine in Rio de Janeiro. The relationship of this case with the vaccine, however, has not yet been proven.
Fontana says that the ministry was notified of the case on Friday (7) and has held meetings since then to discuss the issue, but details are still lacking in relation to laboratory tests to complete the investigation.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon