Last week, the EU Commission approved the new vaccines for small children from the manufacturers BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna for the European market. Austria has ordered 326,000 doses of BioNTech/Pfizer’s infant vaccine, the Ministry of Health said.
The first delivery is therefore already expected “in the coming days”. A separate chapter in the Austrian vaccination plan will in future replace the previously published application recommendations of the NIG. In the new version of the Covid-19 chapter, the corona vaccination is now also recommended for children from risk groups from the age of 6 months to the age of 5 years. Due to the lower dosage required for this age group, the manufacturers have their own vaccine formulations.
“Vaccination is generally recommended for children from the age of 5, adolescents and adults, as well as for children from the age of 6 months to the age of 5 with an increased risk of a severe course of COVID-19,” it says by the National Vaccination Board. “According to the approval, healthy children from the age of 6 months to the age of 5 can also be offered a vaccination without an increased risk of a severe course of the disease from Covid-19, taking into account the personal situation and the individual environment (e.g. community facilities).”
Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) was pleased. “The latest scientific findings show that the Covid-19 vaccines offer the best possible protection against a severe course of the disease with COVID-19, even in small children,” he said. “With the Covid-19 vaccines now also approved for small children from the age of six months, all parents who want to – especially children from risk groups – can protect their children from a serious course of the disease with Covid-19.” So far, around 14,000 off-label vaccinations have been administered to this age group in Austria, the ministry said.
The City of Vienna emphasized that in the first step vaccination will only be possible with an appointment, also because children under the age of 14 are only vaccinated when accompanied by their legal guardian. As soon as a concrete delivery date has been set, organizational work will be in full swing so that a corresponding vaccination offer can be offered to the people of Vienna. It was also pointed out that pure consultation appointments can also be booked.
Source: Nachrichten
