EMA recommends Covid-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11

EMA has recommended the Covid-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. Pfizer vaccine is already approved for use in adults and children 12 and older. The dose will be lower than that used in people 12 years of age or older and will be given in two injections into the upper arm muscles, three weeks apart.

In Spain, in fact, children under 11 years of age have the highest cumulative incidence at 14 days per 100,000 inhabitants, with 203.57, according to data from the Ministry of Health, far ahead of the next group, people between 40 and 49 years of age, which stand at 155.91.

A major study in children aged 5 to 11 years showed that the immune response of the Pfizer vaccine given at a lower dose in children under 12 years of age was comparable to that observed with the highest dose in the age range 16 to 25 years.

Efficacy was estimated in almost 2,000 children aged 5 to 11 years who did not show signs of previous infection. These children received the vaccine or a placebo (a dummy injection). Of the 1,305 children who received the vaccine, three developed Covid-19 compared to 16 of the 663 children who received placebo. This means that, in this study, the vaccine had an effectiveness of 90.7% in the prevention of symptomatic coronavirus (although the actual rate could be between 67.7% and 98.3%), says the EMA statement.

The most common side effects in children ages 5 to 11 are similar to those in people 12 and older. They include pain where they were vaccinated, tiredness, headache, redness and swelling where they were vaccinated, muscle pain and chills. These effects are usually mild or moderate and improve within a few days of vaccination.

If the EMA finally endorses vaccination for this age range between 5 and 11 years, they will receive the Pfizer vaccine. In the United States, they have been vaccinating children for a month and Israel started this week.

The cumulative incidence is increasing in Spain and Minister Darias continues to bet on the importance of vaccination: “The weekly rate of cases in all age ranges is higher in people not vaccinated”, he said.

According to the Ministry of Health’s report, 89.2% of the population, more than 37 million people, already have the complete Covid-19 vaccination schedule and 90.8% have received a dose.

Additional doses are also being administered to certain age groups, a total of 3,776,118 have already been administered: 3,319,229 Pfizer and 456,889 Moderna. Although Europe recommended giving a booster dose to all adults aged 18 and over.