Brazil's Health Ministry expands child vaccine program with Pneumo 20 rollout and polio booster reinstatement

The Ministry of Health has introduced the 20‑valent pneumococcal vaccine (Pneumo 20) into the national childhood immunisation schedule. Initial shipments of 36,700 doses arrived in Rio de Janeiro, with further allocations of 573.7 thousand doses sent to states. By June 2026, more than 6 million doses are expected nationwide. The vaccine, offered for free through the SUS, protects children under five against 20 serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae, aiming to cut severe pneumonia, meningitis, otitis media, hospitalisations and related deaths.

States and municipalities across Brazil have begun distribution: Acre (7,215 doses), Paraná (29,430 doses), Mato Grande (800 doses), Várzea Grande (800 doses), Volta Redonda (doses for 46 UBSs), Rio de Janeiro (city‑wide rollout), São Paulo’s coastal cities and others. The new schedule follows a mixed regime—first dose of Pneumo 20 at two months, Pneumo 10 at four months, and a Pneumo 20 booster at twelve months—transitioning to an all‑Pneumo 20 regimen once older stocks are exhausted.

In parallel, the Ministry has reinstated an extra dose of the injectable polio vaccine for four‑year‑old children, restoring the five‑dose schedule used before 2024. Effective 3 August, children will receive three primary doses at 2, 4 and 6 months, followed by boosters at 15 months and at four years, all with the inactivated virus vaccine (VIP). The change responds to rare risks associated with the oral “gotinha” and to global outbreaks, reinforcing immunity in a country certified polio‑free since 1994.