The challenges for the scope of Universal Vaccination against COVID-19 of the Indigenous Population in the State of Bahia

Abstract

Introduction: By October 2021, 21,246,296 people had already been infected by Sars-COV-2 in Brazil. Specifically in the state of Bahia (BA), among the 23,981 indigenous people, 2,766 were contaminated by SARS-CoV-2 and 40 indigenous people died due to the worsening of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-SARS. Objective: to analyze the monthly progression of vaccine coverage against COVID-19 in Bahian cities that have and/or have vaccinated indigenous populations by municipalities and regional centers. Method: This is a spatial and temporal ecological study involving 23 municipalities in Bahia that have an indigenous population in villages. Through secondary data from the Secretary of Health of the State of Bahia-SESAB. Results: In the state of BA, from January 17 to August 31, 2021, 65 municipalities vaccinated indigenous peoples against Covid-19. This number corresponds to 15% of a total of 417 municipalities. All health macro-regions record vaccination of this target population. At the end of the analyzed period, vaccine coverage for the first and second doses (D1 and D2) were 83.10% and 79.90%, respectively. Conclusion: Covid-19 has been showing the existing inequities in the implementation of policies by the Brazilian state aimed at ethnic-racial minorities in Brazil.