Better to prevent than to treat the illness afterward
Em Roraima, onde a estação chuvosa traz consigo o aumento previsível das doenças respiratórias, a Assembleia Legislativa abriu suas portas para oferecer algo ao mesmo tempo simples e profundo: a proteção que a vacinação representa. Num gesto que une o dever institucional ao cuidado coletivo, estudantes, servidores e cidadãos comuns puderam atualizar sua caderneta de vacinação sem burocracia, num único dia. É o reconhecimento de que prevenir é, sempre, um ato de responsabilidade compartilhada.
- A temporada de chuvas em Roraima trouxe uma onda de casos de gripe que lotou clínicas e o hospital infantil, pressionando o sistema de saúde do estado.
- A Assembleia Legislativa respondeu ao surto transformando suas instalações em ponto de vacinação gratuita, oferecendo imunizantes contra influenza, COVID-19, HPV, febre amarela e outras doenças.
- Professores relataram que alunos não vacinados perdiam semanas de aula, criando um ciclo de ausências que prejudicava toda a turma — tornando a campanha também uma questão de continuidade educacional.
- Uma aluna de oito anos resumiu a experiência com clareza desarmante: foi só uma picadinha, e ela sabia que estava protegendo seu corpo.
- A campanha segue nos espaços institucionais da Assembleia, com acesso aberto mediante documento de identidade, cartão de saúde e caderneta de vacinação.
Na primeira semana de junho, a Assembleia Legislativa de Roraima transformou um de seus espaços no bairro Buritis num ponto de vacinação gratuita. Em parceria com a prefeitura de Boa Vista, a superintendência de saúde da casa disponibilizou vacinas contra influenza, COVID-19 bivalente, hepatite B, sarampo, febre amarela, HPV e meningite. Estudantes do Centro de Convivência da Juventude, servidores do estado e qualquer cidadão que aparecesse podiam atualizar sua caderneta numa única tarde, sem as filas e entraves que costumam afastar as pessoas dos postos de saúde.
A iniciativa não foi por acaso. Roraima vivia o auge da estação chuvosa, e com ela o aumento esperado de doenças respiratórias. As unidades de saúde e o hospital infantil registravam mais atendimentos do que o habitual. A superintendente estadual de saúde, Camila Costa, descreveu a ação como resposta direta a essa pressão sazonal — uma forma de colocar proteção nos braços das pessoas antes que precisassem de tratamento evitável. Marília Pinto, responsável pelos programas especiais da Assembleia, foi direta: a vacinação funciona, reduz internações e salva vidas, e a casa tinha um compromisso com sua comunidade.
No chão da ação, o impacto era concreto. Célio Magalhães, professor do centro de juventude, conhecia bem o custo das ausências escolares causadas por doenças evitáveis — semanas perdidas que atrasam alunos e desestabilizam turmas inteiras. Já Eveline Severino, oito anos, descreveu a vacina com a objetividade das crianças: doeu quase nada, e ela sabia que estava ficando mais forte. A campanha seguiu no dia seguinte no plenário da Assembleia, com acesso mediante documentos básicos, abrindo um caminho simples para quem ainda precisava se imunizar.
The Legislative Assembly of Roraima opened its doors on a Tuesday in early June to offer something most people have to hunt for: free vaccines, delivered without the usual bureaucratic friction. The health superintendent's office, working with Boa Vista's municipal government, set up shop in the Buritis neighborhood and made available shots against influenza, COVID-19, hepatitis B, measles, yellow fever, HPV, and meningococcal disease. Students from the Youth Gathering Center, state employees, and anyone else who showed up could update their vaccination records in a single afternoon.
The timing was not random. Roraima was in the grip of its rainy season, and with the heavy downpours came a predictable surge in respiratory illness. Health clinics and the children's hospital were seeing more patients than usual, their waiting rooms filling with families dealing with flu symptoms. The state's health superintendent, Camila Costa, framed the vaccination drive as a direct response to this seasonal pressure—a way to get protective shots into arms before more people ended up needing treatment they could have avoided.
Marília Pinto, who oversees special programs for the assembly, spoke about vaccination in terms that felt almost obvious once stated: it works. She described it as one of the most powerful tools available for preventing disease, reducing hospitalizations, and saving lives. The assembly, she said, had made a commitment to its community, and this was one way of honoring it. The vaccines themselves were safe, she emphasized, and absolutely necessary.
Inside the vaccination site, the response was straightforward. Célio Magalhães, a teacher at the youth center, saw the initiative as a direct benefit to his students' health and their ability to show up to school. He had watched children miss weeks of classes because they were sick and unvaccinated, and he understood that absences ripple outward—they disrupt the classroom, they set students behind, they create gaps in learning. Prevention, he noted, was always preferable to dealing with illness after the fact.
An eight-year-old student named Eveline Severino, who received a vaccine that day, described the experience without drama. It barely hurt, she said—just a small pinch. She understood, in the way children sometimes do, that the vaccine was protecting her body, making her stronger, possibly saving her life. Her matter-of-fact assessment carried more weight than any official statement could have.
The campaign continued the following day at the legislative chamber itself, the Plenarinho Valério Caldas de Magalhães. Anyone wanting to be vaccinated needed to bring identification, a health insurance card, and their vaccination record. Parents or legal guardians had to accompany anyone under eighteen. The assembly had created a simple pathway for people to access preventive care, removing at least some of the friction that often keeps people from getting vaccinated. In a state where seasonal illness was predictable and preventable, that removal of friction mattered.
Citas Notables
The vaccine is one of the most powerful tools for preventing disease. It guarantees better health, reduces complications, hospitalizations, and even deaths.— Marília Pinto, superintendent of special programs
During this rainy period, flu cases increase. Health clinics and the children's hospital are receiving more patients. We sought this partnership to improve vaccination coverage and offer the vaccine closer to our staff, students, and their families.— Camila Costa, health superintendent
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why did the assembly decide to run this vaccination campaign themselves rather than leave it entirely to the health department?
They saw a gap. The health system was already overwhelmed during rainy season—clinics and the children's hospital were packed. By bringing vaccines directly to where people already were, to state employees and students, they could reach people before they got sick.
The superintendent mentioned that unvaccinated children were missing a lot of school. How much does that actually matter?
It matters more than it sounds. When kids are absent, they fall behind. Teachers have to manage disrupted classrooms. And if you're a working parent, a sick child means you can't work. It cascades.
What struck you about what the eight-year-old said?
She understood the purpose without being told. She didn't need anyone to explain why the vaccine mattered. She just knew it was making her body stronger and keeping her alive. That's the clarity you lose when vaccination becomes abstract or politicized.
The campaign required people to bring documents—SUS card, ID, vaccination record. Doesn't that create barriers?
It does, but it's also how the system tracks coverage and makes sure people aren't getting duplicate doses. The assembly tried to balance accessibility with basic record-keeping. Whether it worked depends on how many people actually had those documents with them.
What does the rainy season have to do with flu?
Humidity, crowding indoors, people in closer contact. The virus spreads faster. It's seasonal and predictable, which means you can prepare for it. Roraima does this every year, and every year the hospitals fill up. This time, someone decided to get ahead of it.