The Ministry of Health reported that 521 Brazilian municipalities were selected to start vaccination against dengue via the Unified Health System (SUS) from February. The cities make up a total of 37 health regions that, according to the ministry, are considered endemic for the disease. A complete list can be accessed here.
The selected regions meet three criteria: they are made up of large municipalities, with more than 100 thousand inhabitants; record high dengue transmission in the period 2023-2024; and have a greater predominance of the DENV-2 serotype. According to the list, 16 states and the Federal District have cities that meet the requirements.
The ministry also confirmed that children and adolescents aged 10 to 14 will be vaccinated, the age group that has the highest number of hospitalizations for dengue. The numbers show that, from January 2019 to November 2023, the group accounted for 16,400 hospitalizations, second only to the elderly, a group for which the vaccine was not authorized.
“The definition of a target audience and priority regions for immunization was necessary due to the limited capacity to supply doses by the vaccine manufacturing laboratory. The first shipment with around 757 thousand doses arrived in Brazil last Saturday. The batch is part of a total of 1.32 million doses supplied by the pharmaceutical company.”
“Another shipment, with more than 568 thousand doses, is scheduled for delivery in February. In addition to these, the Ministry of Health acquired the total quantity available by the manufacturer for 2024: 5.2 million doses. According to the company, they are expected to be delivered throughout the year, until December. For 2025, the department has already contracted 9 million doses.”
The vaccination schedule will consist of two doses, with an interval of three months between them. Brazil is the first country in the world to offer the vaccine in the public system. Qdenga, produced by the Takeda laboratory, was incorporated into the SUS in December last year, after analysis by the National Commission for the Incorporation of Technologies into the SUS (Conitec).
Editing: Valéria Aguiar
By Paula Laboissière – Reporter at Agência Brasil – Brasília