The World Health Organization has reduced the minimum age that is recommended for Pfizer BioNTech Covid from 12 years to 5. In line with its guidelines, the World Health Organization (WHO) now advises all governments worldwide to grant authorization for Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine.
After a Wednesday meeting of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts in immunization, the recommendation was made. This age group has the least priority for the shot, they said.
Pfizer has approved the shot for American children under five years of age. It’s the most commonly used drug in many countries, including the U.S.
The WHO recommendation is made despite the low risk that young children are exposed to the virus. Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that less than 0.1 per cent of all deaths due to the virus were caused by minors.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has reduced the recommended age for Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination to five from 12. This change is despite the fact that there are very few risks to children if they become infected. Pictured: A COVID-19 shot is given to a young boy in Miami, Florida.
Alejandro Cravioto (SAGE chairman) stated at briefing that “this age group (5-11 year olds) is the lowest priority vaccination use group, other than for co-morbidities.”
Kate O’Brien (WHO’s vaccine director) stated that there were no safety concerns regarding the use of Pfizer’s vaccine for children aged 5-11 years in clinical trials.
In high-priority populations such as older people and healthcare workers, the panel recommended booster doses (up to six months) of Pfizer’s vaccine.
Cravioto said that an increase in the coverage of high-risk priority populations with booster vaccinations will often result in greater deaths and severe illness reductions than using equivalent vaccines to boost primary coverage.
Cravioto stated that the updated roadmap for prioritization of COVID vaccines reflected the increased availability and current coverage of the vaccines as well as the circulation of variants of concern.
According to the panel, Pfizer’s booster dosage recommendation was made only for priority groups. It was not recommending a general use for everyone.
The WHO opposed Covid boosters in the past. Earlier this week, its Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan said that she did not see it as necessary for healthy children to receive Covid boosters.
During a Tuesday briefing, she stated, “The goal is to protect vulnerable people to protect them from severe diseases and death. These are the elderly, immunecompromised patients and healthcare workers.”
Swaminathan heads the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts for Immunization. This agency is critical of Covid booster shots being rolled out. It believes that the risk of infecting a fully-vaccinated individual with the flu vaccine is low enough and countries should donate their doses to other countries.
Pfizer’s dose for children under five years old is smaller than that given to adults and older children. Pfizer’s standard-sized dose for children under five years old is 30 micrograms. Younger children have a dose that is only 10 micrograms.
A three-microgram, three-dose vaccine is being tested by the company for children under five years old. The company hopes to be approved in the U.S. within the next few months.
American parents have a split opinion about whether or not to immunize their children.
The U.S. has the lowest vaccination rate for children between five and eleven years of age. According to CDC data only 28% have been given their first shot, while 19% are currently fully vaccinated.
In comparison, almost every American above the age 65 has had at least one shot and at least 74% of all adults have received the jab.
Researchers at the University of Utah published a study in October that found 50 percent of Covid-infected children have an asymptomatic condition.
In October, a study showed that 50% of COVID-19-infected children did not develop symptoms of the disease, compared with only 13% of adult patients. This was before Omicron, a milder variant of COVID-19 became America’s predominant strain.
This study also took place during Omicron’s Delta wave. Omicron was America’s dominant strain.
Omicron is milder than Delta or other strains, so it’s likely that children are at lower risk.
The CDC published a study last week that found Omicron-related hospitalizations are only half the common for all ages. It is also 91% less likely that Omicron infected people will die.
Some people are worried about the little risk that children take from vaccinations. The small chance of myocarditis in kids may make it worth not getting the shot.
