The Ministry of Health wants to start distributing the dengue vaccine from the second week of February to the 521 cities with a high rate of the disease. The information was given this Tuesday (30) by the Minister of Health, Nísia Trindade, in an emergency meeting with the Federal District and seven surrounding cities. “We haven’t started distribution yet because we are complying with technical regulations from Anvisa. As soon as we have it ready, we will start distributing it”, informed Nísia.
Part of the regulation, according to the ministry, is to have vaccine information in Portuguese. The Ministry’s expectation is that the demands will be met next week so that distribution can begin the following week.
This year 6.5 million doses will be distributed, and for 2025 the Ministry purchased 9 million doses. The target audience will be children and adolescents between 10 and 14 years old, the age group that has the highest number of hospitalizations for dengue, after the elderly, according to the Ministry of Health.
The cities were selected according to municipalities with more than 100 thousand inhabitants; that have high dengue transmission and with a higher number of cases in 2023 and 2024; and predominance of type 2 dengue fever in December last year. The department did not inform the number of doses allocated to each municipality.
Among the most common symptoms of the disease are headaches and pains behind the eyes, fever and spots on the body. In more serious cases, such as dengue hemorrhagic fever, there may be abdominal pain, vomiting, drowsiness, dizziness and bleeding. According to specialist Carla Kobayashi, it is important to seek medical help and treat symptoms from the beginning, staying hydrated.
