Most children aged 6 months to 5 years in Fortaleza have not yet completed their COVID-19 vaccination schedule. The third dose has been available for this age group since February in health centers in the capital. However, according to information from the Municipal Health Department (SMS), only 2,656 children received vitamin D3, which is 7.6% of those who took the first dose.

Fortaleza has a total of 168,474 children in this age group. Only 20% of this population started the vaccination schedule, while only 1.7% of them took all three doses. Vaccination of infants and children up to 5 years of age began in November 2022. Nine months later, as of August 28, 34,834 of them had received the first dose, and 18,084 had the second dose.

For this age group, the Pfizer-Baby vaccines are used eight weeks (or 60 days) apart between the second and third doses, and CoronaVac four months (or 120 days) apart.

Vanessa Soldatelli, immunization coordinator in Fortaleza, explains that many families still complain of fear of vaccinating infants and children. “It’s just as safe as routine vaccinations,” he says. “So much so that we had two years of vaccination and people became protected, we got through the pandemic and we don’t use masks anymore.”

Another reason for low demand is forgetfulness, according to Vanessa, “because the urgency of Covid is over.” “This situation can still cause other problems. Children still get sick and need to be vaccinated, and they need to get the recommended doses. We still don’t know what it will be like in the future,” the coordinator instructs.

Since the start of vaccination for this age group, Vanessa says the Fortaleza City Council has conducted an active search process to find families and provide guidance on the need for the vaccine. “Often (the vaccine for children) was denied,” he says. Some families report that adults have been vaccinated and do not seek to vaccinate young children. Vanessa explains that this is not enough to protect the little ones.

Vaccination teams also went to four day care centers to vaccinate students in 2023. But parents must obtain permission to do so, and send the child’s vaccination card to the institution. “If you don’t send the card, we won’t be able to do it,” he says. “This was the biggest difficulty we had. Out of 60 children in a day-care center, only five were allowed.”

In 2023, Fortaleza recorded 183 cases of children under the age of five infected with the COVID-19 virus. Among minors, this age group records the largest number of cases. (contributed by Christina Prieto)