São Paulo adds 1.8 million doses and will begin vaccinating senior citizens

The state of São Paulo announced the delivery of another 1.8 million doses of the CoronaVac vaccine to the national Covid-19 immunization plan this week. Of them, 410,000 doses will allow the state to begin vaccinating senior citizens on February 8. 

According to Governor João Doria, the campaign will start with over-90s on February 8 and move to those aged 85 or over the following week, targeting a total of 515,000 people. This would fulfill the first phase of the vaccination plan, which also includes health professionals, indigenous communities, and senior citizens living in care homes. The state has vaccinated more than 332,000 people — mainly health workers — since beginning immunization on January 17.

São Paulo has requested the Health Ministry’s permission to use its entire stock of vaccines to immunize more people in the first phase, which would extend the timeframe for people to receive their second vaccine jabs.

In response, authorities from Brasília have instructed states to stick to the initial plan, holding back doses for the second round of vaccination, in order to make sure the immunization process will be effective.

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