Brazil to replace oral polio vaccine with IPV in November

The Brazil Ministry of Health announced that they will replace the two booster doses of bivalent oral polio vaccine (bOPV), known as drops, with one dose of inactivated polio vaccine (IPV), which is injectable, so that the vaccination schedule against the disease will be exclusive to IPV. The change will take place by November 4.

The decision was based on epidemiological criteria, scientific evidence about the vaccine and international recommendations to make the vaccination schedule even safer. Countries such as the United States and European nations already use exclusive vaccination schedules with IPV.

Image/CDC

The replacement in Brazil was widely discussed at a meeting of the Technical Advisory Board on Immunization (CTAI) and was approved by the board. The decision was made with the participation of representatives of scientific societies, the National Council of Health Secretaries (Conass), the National Council of Municipal Health Secretariats (Conasems) and monitoring by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

The current vaccination schedule includes the administration of three doses of IPV at 2, 4 and 6 months and two booster doses of bOPV, the droplet, at 15 months and 4 years of age.

From November 4th, with bOPV no longer being used, only a booster dose with IPV will be necessary, at 15 months of age, so that the vaccination schedule with the aforementioned immunobiological will be:

• 2 months – 1st dose

• 4 months – 2nd dose

• 6 months – 3rd dose

• 15 months – booster dose

The Ministry of Health has already sent recommendations to the states so that they develop actions and prepare their respective municipalities for the withdrawal of bOPV and the replacement of booster doses.

The new strategy for the use of IPV is another step towards eradicating polio  in Brazil. The country has been free of the disease for 34 years and has had 47 years of successful use of OPV in vaccination strategies to combat polio since it was officially introduced in 1977.

In Brazil, the last case of infection by wild poliovirus occurred in 1989, in the city of Souza/PB.

Brazil has stood out positively in the advancement of vaccination coverage, even after facing declines since 2016. And vaccination against polio in the country is one of the reasons for the positive result. In 2023, vaccination coverage for polio reached 86.55%, compared to 77.20% in 2022. The data is contained in the National Health Data Network (RNDS).