February 12, 2022

12:02

Bruno Pacheco – Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – The mandatory vaccination among children and adolescents has become an agenda in the City Council of Manaus (CMM). A bill, number 584/2021, wants to require students up to 18 years of age in public and private network of the capital of Amazonas present the card of immunization at registration, as an incentive to basic vaccines considered mandatory.

The text, authored by Councilman Lissandro Breval (Avante), was deliberated on Monday, 7, for the Commission on Constitution, Justice and Drafting (CCJ) and is currently under review by the Health Committee of the Municipal House. The parliamentarians are waiting for an opinion about the proposal so that it can return to discussions and be put on the agenda for voting.

“The goal of this project is to create an environment conducive to encouraging basic vaccines that are provided in our National Vaccination Plan. We found that in five years, the important vaccines like BCG, where the coverage was 98%, a vaccine that prevents tuberculosis in its severe form, today is less than 32%. And we need to create this mechanism so that parents, when registering their children, present the card and encourage this vaccination”, Breval highlighted.

According to the proposal, the law applies to students of early childhood education, elementary and middle schools of Manaus. The bill understands as mandatory vaccines those recommended by the Child Vaccination Calendar and the Vaccination Calendar for Teenagers, in line with the provisions of the Ministry of Health and the Municipal Health Department of Manaus.

Students whose parents or guardians do not present the document at registration may still attend classes, however, the situation must be regularized within 60 days. Moreover, according to the text, the teaching units are required to communicate the fact to the Guardianship Council for appropriate action.

“It is important to point out that the parent, at the time of enrollment, if the child does not have basic vaccination, will have a period of time to regularize the situation. No one wants to prohibit the student from studying, but to encourage to notify the importance of this vaccination for the child’s health”, said the councilman Lissandro Breval.

According to the text, only the student who presents a medical certificate of explicit contraindication to the application of the immunization will be exempted from mandatory vaccination. According to the councilman Lissandro Breval, the requirement does not apply to vaccines against Covid-19

Misinformation

The vaccination coverage in Brazil, already seen as a national pride and one of the most powerful in the world, suffers with the weakening of the current system, especially with the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. For specialists, misinformation, lack of incentive from public managers, and dissemination of fake news explain the phenomenon.

According to the Ministry of Health, a drop in the general immunization rate was recorded in the country in 2019 and 2020, mainly in children and adolescents, configuring the result of a trend that has hit the country since 2015. The data was released in October 2021.

Throughout this period, there was a drop in at least ten vaccines administered by the Unified Health System (SUS) in children and adolescents. The BCG vaccine was the one with the largest reduction between 2015 and 2020, with 30% less applications. The polio immunizer, on the other hand, fell 22.81% in the time interval observed. From 2019 to 2020, these 2 vaccines fell by 15.12% and 9.87%, respectively.

For Councilman Lissandro Breval, the way to combat these numbers is to continue promoting information actions, highlighting the importance of vaccination in children, the main ones affected by the lack of application of essential immunizers for health.

“There is a great movement around vaccines today. They have politicized this issue and we have noticed some councilors already working this bill in a negative way. And we will continue with information, with science and, mainly, fighting against misinformation and defending this project that is very relevant for the health of our children”, said the parliamentarian.

Recommendation

Last Friday, 4, the Public Ministry of Amazonas (MPAM) issued a recommendation to the prosecutors to work for the mandatory pediatric vaccination throughout the state, ensuring the right to vaccination against Covid-19 for adolescents and children aged 5 to 11 years and, from there, the return to school activities in person.

For the prosecutor Romina Carmen Brito, coordinator of Childhood and Youth (CAO-IJ), the recommendation is of fundamental importance, because it is necessary to pass security to parents who will have their children returning to school in the State.

“In this critical moment, the Public Ministry needs to provide security to parents and guardians. We created a working group to monitor the vaccination of children and adolescents, since it is the MP’s duty to ensure the fundamental rights of this public, “said prosecutor Romina Brito.

Check, in full, the Bill of Law n. 584/2021: