A 10-year-old child went into cardiac arrest after being vaccinated against the coronavirus in Brazil.
The incident took place in the prefecture of Lensos Paulista in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. After receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, a young Brazilian resident's heart stopped.
"A 10-year-old child went into cardiac arrest 12 hours after receiving the Pfizer childhood vaccine," local authorities said in a statement.
However, the child was able to be resuscitated. He is now in stable condition and under medical supervision. The mayor's office noted that the child suffers from asthma.
In connection with the incident, Lensoise-Pauliste authorities decided to suspend vaccination of minors for a week in order to investigate the causes of the incident and to monitor the 46 vaccinated children. Vaccinations for adults and adolescents continue as usual.
On December 16, 2021, the National Sanitary Surveillance Agency approved the US Pfizer childhood COVID-19 vaccine for the five- to 11-year-old age group. The first batch of Comirnaty pediatric dosage vaccine was delivered to Brazil on January 13, with adolescents ages 12 and up being vaccinated with Pfizer's adult vaccine.
Before vaccinating children, the Brazilian Ministry of Health held a public discussion on the issue, then announced on January 5 the decision to include residents under 12 years old in the national immunization plan.
According to the ministry's recommendations, wait two months between the first and second dose of the vaccine, rather than the three months recommended by the manufacturer. This will reduce the risk of side effects, the ministry specified.