Employees of refrigerators, agriculture and ceasas servers will receive flu vaccines

From May 25, the influenza vaccination campaign will begin for servers of the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Supply Company (Conab) and the supply centers (Ceasas). The action is an initiative of the government and the Brazilian Association of Animal Protein (ABPA), which represents pork and chicken meat slaughterhouses. Refrigerator workers will also be vaccinated, according to the ABPA mapping. " (The goal is) to immunize the group of workers who work in the food supply in the country and, with this, reduce the risks of hospitalizations and an interruption of these activities during the pandemic of the new coronavirus," the Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement. According to the government, 12,000 doses of the trivalent vaccine will be made available, donated by the ABPA. Composed of inactivated viruses, it protects against the three viruses that circulated the most in the Southern Hemisphere in 2019: Influenza A (H1N1), Influenza B and Influenza A (H3N2). "The vaccine is not effective against coronavirus, but it aims to assist health professionals in excluding the diagnosis of influenza, since the symptoms are similar, to get more quickly to the diagnosis of coronavirus." In the first stage, map and Conab employees will be vaccinated in the company's regional superintendences in the states. Then, the campaign will take place in the block supply centers, being initiated by the employees. Ceasas wholesalers are expected to be immunized From May 25 to 29, the campaign will be held in the South, Southeast and Federal District. From June 1st to 5th, in the North and Northeast regions and in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul.