Cruesp Announcement No. 01/2021
Sao Paulo, January 18, 2021
The Council of Rectors of São Paulo State Universities (Cruesp), with a view to approving the emergency use of the CoronaVac (Sinovac/Instituto Butantan) and ChAdOx1 (AztraZeneca/Fiocruz) vaccines, publicly extols the victory of science in protecting life. The available results attest that both vaccines provide relevant protection against moderate to severe forms of COVID-19 and sufficient immunogenicity to slow transmission and thus contain the spread of the pandemic.
Furthermore, the vaccines proved to be safe, with side effects being rare and not serious. Finally, the feasibility of maintaining it at temperatures from 2ºC to 8oC favors distribution logistics, allowing the vaccination of populations in the most remote areas of Brazil. The research, carried out by hundreds of scientists within universities and public research institutes, presented a solid path forward in response to the worst public health emergency reported in more than a century.
The availability of vaccines is, however, just the first step. There is still a long way to go. In addition to the fundamental issues related to the availability of the vaccine and syringes, distribution logistics and the organization of priority groups, great adherence to vaccination is necessary in order to obtain population immunization. Only with a considerable number of people vaccinated can the circulation of the new coronavirus be stopped, ensuring protection for the population as a whole.
Getting vaccinated is not just an act of caring for your own health, but a health duty towards everyone.
Until population protection is ensured, we reaffirm the need for sanitary measures to contain the spread of COVID-19, including restricting mobility and gatherings, hand hygiene and the use of masks. These measures are supported by the results of robust scientific studies and are necessary during the pandemic, and even after vaccination.
In the statements of its Collegiate Board, Anvisa highlighted another historic position, stating clearly and unquestionably that there is still no proven effective therapy against COVID-19. More than a detail, this is a regulatory and legal framework, which brings to light aspects widely publicized by researchers. Fantastic cures propagated to reinforce political-ideological and denialist positions were publicly denied by the country's medicines regulatory agency.
São Paulo State Universities, the scene of several studies that identified and pointed out directions for confronting the pandemic, reiterate their commitment to science, a pillar of democracy and human development. Thus, USP, Unesp and Unicamp, which through their health care units, part of the SUS, have worked tirelessly to assist victims of COVID-19, once again, make their hospitals available for this new and urgent undertaking, vaccination.
Pasqual Barretti – rector of Unesp (president of Cruesp)
Marcelo Knobel – rector of Unicamp
Vahan Agopyan – rector of USP
