Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on vaccination against meningococcal C infection in Brazil
Thales Philipe Rodrigues da Silva,
Leyla Gabriela Verner Amaral Brandão,
Ed Wilson Rodrigues Vieira,
Thalita Beatriz Santos Maciel,
Tércia Moreira Ribeiro da Silva,
Bianca Maria Oliveira Luvisaro,
Fabiana Ramos de Menezes,
Fernanda Penido Matozinhos
Affiliations
Thales Philipe Rodrigues da Silva
Postdoctoral Fellow, Ph.D, Post-graduate Program in Nursing, School of Nursing, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Leyla Gabriela Verner Amaral Brandão
Post-graduate Program in Nursing, School of Nursing, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Ed Wilson Rodrigues Vieira
Department of Maternal and Child Nursing and Public Health, School of Nursing, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Thalita Beatriz Santos Maciel
Santa Casa of Belo Horizonte, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Tércia Moreira Ribeiro da Silva
Department of Maternal and Child Nursing and Public Health, School of Nursing, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Bianca Maria Oliveira Luvisaro
Post-graduate Program in Nursing, School of Nursing, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Fabiana Ramos de Menezes
Post-graduate Program in Nursing, School of Nursing, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Fernanda Penido Matozinhos
Department of Maternal and Child Nursing and Public Health, School of Nursing, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil; Corresponding author at: Department of Maternal and Child Nursing and Public Health, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, 190, Professor Alfredo Balena Avenue, Santa Efigênia, Room 400, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais 30130-100, Brazil.
Objective: Analyzing the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on meningococcal C conjugate vaccination in Brazil. Methods: Ecological study, based on interrupted time series, carried out with data collected through the Information System of the National Immunization Program (IS-NIP). Collected data refer to the number of meningococcal C conjugate vaccine doses administered from March 2019 to December 2020. Results: In total, 14,832,054 meningococcal C conjugate vaccine doses were administered throughout the investigated period; 66.30% of them, from March 2019 to February 2020 and 33.70%, from March to December 2020. Statistically significant steps were observed, i.e., the COVID-19 pandemic had negative impact on the number of MenC vaccine doses administered in the North and South regions (26,98% and 41.47%, respectively) and in the eleven Brazilian States. Conclusion: The current study has shown that the COVID-19 pandemic had negative impact on the number of MenC vaccine doses administered in the Northern and Southern Brazil, and in eleven Brazilian states. Among all challenges experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, one finds reduced MenC vaccine coverage, which, consequently, may lead to increased meningococcal infection rates in Brazil.
