The Brazilian city of Serrana has announced the first mass clinical vaccination trial to immunize all its adult residents in one of the countries most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a press conference held by São Paulo Governor João Doria in Serrana before the campaign started, he stated, "This study is unique in the world." Doria added that the ambitious campaign will allow for the vaccination of 30,000 of the city's 50,000 residents, enabling authorities to analyze the impact of immunization on the pandemic, which has been ravaging the country’s 212 million population in its second wave. Doria indicated that every adult in the city, located 300 kilometers (190 miles) from São Paulo, will receive two doses of the "CoronaVac" vaccine within two months, excluding pregnant and breastfeeding women and patients.
It is noteworthy that the initiative was launched by the Butantan Institute under the auspices of the São Paulo state, where the institute produces the "CoronaVac" vaccine developed by the Chinese company Sinovac, which, along with the AstraZeneca vaccine, has been authorized for use in Brazil.
Ricardo Palacios, director of clinical studies at Butantan, remarked, "This is not a simple mass vaccination. The goal of the study is to determine how effective vaccination is in the community and to assess the collective effectiveness of immunizing individuals." Approximately 60,000 doses of the vaccine have been allocated for the campaign. Edson José Felix (81 years old) expressed his eagerness, stating, "I can't wait to kiss my grandchildren," after becoming one of the first people to receive a vaccine in a class emptied by the pandemic.
Health authorities hope to study the virus transmission rate among the vaccinated population, how new variants behave, the number of people needed to be vaccinated to prevent the virus's spread, and the economic impact of this study.
