Paediatricians have issued their support for the COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11. The association noted it is 90% protective against one of the top 10 causes of death in this age group in the US. The Maltese Paediatric Association said in a statement highlighting the jab’s safety that immunisation reduced the burden of disease in this age group and the direct health risks associated with the infection. 

This is especially the case for children at risk of severe illness due to underlying medical conditions, the association pointed out. With the age bracket becoming eligible for the vaccine in mid-December, paediatricians added that vaccinating kids would also be helpful in planning eventual relaxation of measures within schools. 

This of course refers to makes and social distancing, as well as reducing in schooling disruptions and thinned for quarantine – measures which have had impacts on children’s well-being. The paediatricians touted how the approved vaccine has been shown to be safe when used in several million children in the US. The fact that serious complications from the infection could still occur in healthy children even though they were uncommon was cited by the association in support of the jab. 

Apart from protecting kids from COVID, the association listed more reasons such as the good response to the jab by the age group as further endorsement. The association said kids aged between 5 and 11 were at least as likely to be infected with SARS-CoV2-2 as adults. 

Hospitalisation for this age bracket was increasing the association revealed, with a nine-fold rise in the weekly hospitalisation rate from 0.025 to 0.4 per 100,000 population noted between July to September in Europe. 

The association noted that 399 kids were admitted to hospital during this period, with 10% needing intensive care unit admission, with two deaths reported. COVID-19 infection accounted for 1.7% of deaths in kids of the age group and 0.1% of all pandemic deaths.  

With long COVID also observed in children, with about 8% experiencing continued symptoms more than 12 weeks after infection, the paediatricians emphasised their support of the jab as it is likely to contribute to the mental well-being of the age group. Namely of these were disruptions in schooling, sports and family routines and separation from loved ones. 

The Comirnaty vaccine, produced by Pfizer and BioNTech, was approved for use in children aged five to 11 by the US FDA in October and EMA the following month. Children are given a third of the adult dose in two doses at three weeks apart. 

#MaltaDaily