It’s strange and not what you would expect at the vaccination appointment: Instead of these Brazilians exposing their upper arm, they should pull their pants down.
It’s finally here: the vaccination appointment! It is well known that vaccinations are injected into the upper arm. In this country, the vaccination campaign used the slogan “Sleeves up” to advertise the corona vaccination. Accordingly, it is important to wear clothes that are as loose as possible, in which the upper arm is exposed anyway or can be cleared quickly.
Stela Schwenker knew that too, as the Washington Post reported about her vaccination experience. Because instead of the Brazilian woman getting the long-awaited injection in her upper arm, the doctor’s assistant wanted to give her the corona vaccination in her buttocks.
Syringe in the buttocks
“The nurse said, ‘The syringe is in your butt,’ and I said, ‘My God’,” the 26-year-old told the Washington Post. Finally, she pulled up her sleeveless dress to get the vaccine. Still, she wondered why everyone got the syringe in their arms, but they got it in their buttocks.
But Stela Schwenker is not the only one. An editorial assistant tweeted: “I didn’t understand why almost no one in Joinville posted photos of the vaccination. Until I found out that almost everyone (including me) had the vaccine in their buttocks.” The tweet went viral.
A whole city on a special course
The city of Joinville is located in southern Brazil. With almost 600,000 inhabitants, it is the largest city in the state of Santa Catarina. German traditions from the colonial era are still celebrated here today – for example, a festival with dance, music and beer in October. Now the city has decided on something special: Instead of giving its residents vaccinations in the arms, the corona vaccine should develop its effect from the back of the people.
From a technical point of view, however, the vaccine does not end up in the bottom itself – as you can read everywhere – but in the area directly above it. The so-called ventrogluteal injection according to Hochstetter is carried out about one or two centimeters below the waistband. According to the officials, the residents of Joinville have been receiving their vaccinations for a long time.
Less pain
The city spokesman Thiago Boeing explains to the “Washington post” that the other injection site does not result in any loss of safety or effectiveness of the vaccine. The technology has become rare, but it is still technically correct and not an error.
He quoted the National Health Department’s vaccination protocol for intramuscular vaccines, which include coronavirus vaccinations, according to the Washington Post. It highlighted ventrogluteal vaccination as one of the “best options” for “alternative administration” of vaccines, as it caused less pain to use. But few other Brazilian cities would have taken up this Ministry of Health option.
The vaccinations in the buttocks are not mandatory. As the “Washington Post” quotes city spokesman Boeing, health workers are urged to inform patients that they can also receive the vaccination in the upper arm. Whether this conversation actually comes about, however, is another matter.
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