A corona vaccine adapted for children from five to eleven years of age is to be delivered in Germany from December 13th. The Standing Vaccination Commission has now given its assessment.
The Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) wants to recommend the corona vaccination to children aged five to eleven with previous illnesses and contact with high-risk patients. But also healthy children should be able to be vaccinated on request and after medical advice, the panel of experts announced on Thursday about a draft resolution. It is not yet a final Stiko recommendation, a coordination process with specialist societies and countries is still ongoing. Changes are still possible.
Stiko points out “again and emphatically” that vaccinations are offered
“Although the 7-day incidence in this age group is very high, so it can be assumed that a large number of five to eleven year olds will be infected in the medium term without vaccination, most infections are asymptomatic,” said Stiko. Children in this age group with no previous illnesses would currently have a low risk of severe Covid-19, hospitalization and intensive care. In addition, the risk of rare side effects of vaccination cannot currently be assessed due to the limited data situation for this age group. Therefore, the Stiko “currently does not give a general vaccination recommendation” for children with no previous illnesses at that age.
The Stiko also wrote that it “again and emphatically points out” that parents, teachers and educators as well as other people working in the care of children and adolescents “should urgently take advantage of the vaccination offer, including a booster”.
For five to eleven year olds, a lower-dose and differently bottled preparation is used compared to the conventional Biontech / Pfizer vaccine. According to Stiko, two doses of the mRNA vaccine should be given at intervals of three to six weeks. The delivery of this particular child vaccine was recently brought forward by a week to December 13th. The green light for approval in Europe was given at the end of November. If doctors have previously vaccinated younger children, they usually reduced the dose of the vaccine, which is approved for ages 12 and up, themselves – this falls under what is known as off-label use. The Stiko recommendation, however, only refers to the special children’s vaccine.
Vaccination recommendations from Stiko are considered the medical standard and are an important guideline for many doctors. Depending on the level of knowledge, the committee has repeatedly adjusted its vaccination recommendations. The vaccination for children from 12 years of age was initially only recommended for previous illnesses and was later extended to the entire age group. Stiko decisions had sparked discussion and criticism on several issues relating to corona vaccinations; for example, the committee was accused of proceeding too hesitantly for pandemic conditions.
Source From: Stern
