Priority for future COVID-19 vaccinations in Brazil: should public transport users be a target group?

Considering the recent emergence of effective vaccines against COVID-19 and the scarce resources to assist most of the world population immediately, societies need to define the order in which groups of citizens will get access to new vaccines. Vaccination campaigns should prioritize the immunizatio...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Sathler, Douglas, Leiva, Guilherme
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2021
Country:Brasil
Institution:Associação Brasileira de Estudos Populacionais (ABEP)
Repository:Revista brasileira de estudos de população (Online)
Language:Portuguese
English
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.rebep.org.br:article/1821
Online Access:https://rebep.org.br/revista/article/view/1821
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Vaccine
COVID-19
Public transport
Target group
Vacuna
Covid-19
Transporte público
Grupo objetivo
Vacina
Grupo-alvo
Description
Summary:Considering the recent emergence of effective vaccines against COVID-19 and the scarce resources to assist most of the world population immediately, societies need to define the order in which groups of citizens will get access to new vaccines. Vaccination campaigns should prioritize the immunization of vulnerable individuals and people tasked with helping others, thus reducing human losses and minimizing social and economic damage. In Brazil, public transport users in large cities present high levels of vulnerability, due to factors related to the spatial configuration, the organization of transport systems and the high percentage of people of low socio-economic status within large suburbs that depend exclusively on public transport to access jobs and basic services. Immunizing public transport users can produce relevant practical effects in combating COVID-19 in Brazil, such as saving public resources, reducing the number of deaths and achieving greater efficiency in the sectorized control of the disease within cities. Therefore, we suggest that policymakers should consider the frequent users of public transport from large Brazilian cities as a target group in vaccination campaigns, affording this group some priority based on adequate risk mapping at the local level.