At the start of February, vaccination efforts began in states of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Bahia, seeking to immunize 19.7 million people against yellow fever, for which cases have been rising since last year, Xinhua news agency reported.
‘Vaccination efforts began in Brazil to immunize 19.7 million people against yellow fever.’
According to Barros, if the government approves the idea, separate programs will take place in each state of the country.
Barros added that the vaccination campaign should be rolled out gradually, according to the capacity of each state.
Certain northeastern and southern regions of the country have not seen campaigns so far, as there have been no outbreaks of yellow fever there.
Thirty-four million people need to be vaccinated there, with 23 million in the northeast and 11 million in the south of the country.
A plant belonging to Libbs Farmaceutica in Sao Paulo is currently about to begin production of 4 million doses of the vaccine a month.
From July 1, 2017 to February 20, 2018, Brazil has confirmed 545 cases of yellow fever, with 164 deaths. A further 1,773 suspected cases have been noted, with 685 having been eliminated and 422 still under investigation.
Source: IANS
