Brazil Begins Public Rollout of 20‑Valent Pneumococcal Vaccine

Overview

• Local health services started offering the 20‑valent pneumococcal vaccine to priority groups, with São Paulo city beginning pediatric doses on Saturday, June 20 after receiving 26,890 federal doses.
• States and large municipalities including Alagoas and Fortaleza have made Pneumo20 available across municipal clinics and opened extra weekend sites to expand access during Day‑D multivaccination drives.
• The Ministry of Health is implementing a gradual substitution that uses a mixed infant schedule—Pneumo20 at two months, Pneumo10 at four months and a Pneumo20 booster at 12 months—to align with current stocks.
• Priority public recipients are children under five, certain indigenous people, institutionalized or bedridden older adults and people with special clinical conditions managed at CRIE centers, while some locales continue offering Pneumo23 for defined high‑risk adults.
• The rollout builds on Anvisa’s 2023 approval and private use since 2025 and is projected to benefit tens of thousands locally this year, with São Paulo expecting about 116,000 children to be reached by the end of 2026.