Vaccinating children against COVID-19. What is known so far? [REPORT]

Teenagers 19+ can vaccinate against COVID-12. “Probably at the beginning of November there will be a recommendation to vaccinate children over five years” – said Dr. Sutkowski recently. A few days ago, Pfizer announced that its preparation can be used from this age limit. By the end of the year, studies on immunization of even younger children are to be published. What do we know about childhood immunization against COVID-19? What are the side effects and what are the doctors saying? We remind you of the most important information.

1. On September 20, Pfizer and BioNTech announced that the COVID-19 vaccine can be used in children 5 – 11 years old
2. Pfizer and BioNTech will seek approval of the preparation for children, among others by the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency
3. By the end of the year, concerns plan to publish the results of studies on the use of the COVID-19 vaccine in children aged 2-5 years and 6 months to 2 years.
4. In Poland, teenagers aged 19+ can receive the COVID-12 vaccine. What is known about the safety of the preparation, side effects and effectiveness of its use in children?
5. More information can be found on the Onet homepage.

Vaccinations against COVID-19 are possible in children from five years of age. Tests

In mid-May, registration of youth aged 19-16 for vaccination against COVID-17 started. On June 7, the younger age group also joined this group. In total, the COVID-19 vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech (so far the only preparation against SARS-CoV-2 that can be used before the age of 18) can be taken by adolescents 12+.

There is a chance that children from the age of five will join them soon. On September 20, Pfizer and BioNTech announced that their COVID-19 vaccine can be used in children aged 5-11. The companies will soon submit an application for approval of the preparation for this age group by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It is also known that soon they will also seek it from the European and British regulators of the drug market. – Probably at the beginning of November there will be a vaccination recommendation for children over five years of age – said the president of Warsaw Family Physicians, Dr. Michał Sutkowski in RMF-FM.

The rapid spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus speaks in favor of vaccinating younger and younger age groups. As Pfizer executive director Albert Bourla said, this has led to “since July the number of pediatric COVID-19 cases in the US has increased by 240 percent.” Bourla assessed that in this situation, vaccinating children against the coronavirus is a necessity. The research covers not only children from the age of five. Pfizer and BioNTech expect to publish data on vaccine use in children between six months and five years of age in the fourth quarter of this year.

1. More and more cases of COVID-19 in children. «It’s a Delta variant»

The Moderna concern is also currently conducting clinical trials of vaccination against COVID-19 in children.

Vaccinating children against COVID-19. Is it safe?

According to data from mid-September, almost 35 percent of people are vaccinated in Poland. students aged 12-18. It’s still not much. Meanwhile, vaccines are “the only weapon we have against COVID-19 waves,” said Lidia Stopyra, a specialist in infectious diseases and paediatrics, in an interview with Medonet. – We should vaccinate children against COVID-19. There is no doubt about it – she said in one of our interviews (…) – Both clinical trials and our own practice clearly show that vaccines are safe. The day after vaccination, the child may feel worse, but nothing else – says the doctor.

The Minister of Health spoke in a similar vein at the end of August. – The vaccinations we are dealing with are as tested as all other drugs, all other vaccinations – said Adam Niedzielski during one of the press conferences. – All studies were conducted under the same regimen throughout all clinical phases. In addition, these studies were later verified by the European Medicines Agency – he assured.

Let us add that enough adolescents have taken part in clinical trials of the vaccine to show that the vaccine is safe for adolescents aged 12+. “We have no reason to expect children to tolerate the vaccine less favorably than adults,” stressed the University of California-based CHOC Foundation (committed to providing the highest quality medical care for children).

1. Vaccinations against COVID-19 in children 12+. Six important questions [EXPLAINED]

Vaccinating children against COVID-19. Possible side effects

The most common side effects in adolescents vaccinated against COVID-19 are similar to those experienced by adults. These include injection site pain, fatigue, headache, muscle and joint pain, chills and fever. These effects are usually mild to moderate and last one to three days. In many cases, side effects do not occur at all.

– Low risk that there will be an anaphylactic shock once in a million, that something will happen once in 100. is with every vaccine – emphasized Dr. Michał Sutkowski. What is most important here is that the benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risks of getting sick.

Still with the topic of possible side effects after vaccination against COVID-19 – the prestigious Mayo Clinic organization draws attention to an important issue. “It is not advisable to give your child an over-the-counter painkiller prior to vaccination as a way to avoid side effects,” says mayoclinic.org.

1. What medications are better not to take before and after vaccination, and why? Experts explain

Why is it worth vaccinating children against COVID-19? Doctors say straight

There are many reasons why it is worth and even necessary to vaccinate children against COVID-19. Let us remember that immunization protects against serious illness, and thus also complications and death. – Although it may happen that a vaccinated person (including a child) has a positive test result (vaccination effectiveness against Delta is estimated at about 80-90%), the symptoms of infection will be mild in this case – explained Dr. Stopyra.

1. How can I protect my children when they return to school? Important advice from a pediatrician

This is all the more important as (contrary to common opinion) children may also have a hard time going through COVID-19 or struggle with complications (even if they have had the disease mildly). One of the most dangerous consequences is the so-called PIMS, or multi-system inflammatory syndrome. – This creates a situation where children require intensive medical care. Moreover, PIMS is life-threatening. Some of them died as a result – there were also such cases in Poland – says Dr. Lidia Stopyra. Worse still, we cannot predict which child will have this complication. All the little patients hospitalized in my ward for PIMS were not children with special burdens. They passed COVID-19 very gently, often completely asymptomatically, and the only evidence of the disease was antibodies, she told Medonet.

– We already meet situations when parents regret not vaccinating their children. Who understand that because of this decision they fell ill and ended up in the hospital. Because in fact, the little patients we have are children who are not vaccinated, although they could have been – emphasizes the contagious, adding: – When children were vaccinated, it was said that we were doing it to protect others. This is not so. We vaccinate children to protect them from serious illness, from complications, but also from damage caused by lockdowns.

You may be interested in:

1. Children are sick in one third of cases in the United States. “It is a pity that the Ministry of National Education does not understand this”
2. Side effects of COVID-19 vaccines [COMPARISON]
3. Poles are less and less afraid of the coronavirus. And they don’t want to get vaccinated

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