On November 25, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) gave the green light to Pfizer vaccination of children between 5 and 11 years old; A few weeks later, the Public Health Commission of the Spanish National Health System authorized the application of the vaccine in this age group, and on December 15, 2021, the vaccination campaign for the smallest began .
During the first week of the vaccination campaign, the first batch of 1.3 million doses was distributed throughout Spain, leaving each community to decide how and where to administer them in this age group.
It should be noted that it is not exactly the same vaccine that has been administered to adults and adolescents, since the dose for children under 12 years of age is only a third of the dose administered so far. In other words, instead of 30 micrograms as it is being administered to adults, the little ones are receiving a dose 3 times lower, of only 10 micrograms, which is considered sufficient for this group. Of course, as in the rest of the population, a second vaccine is necessary after 8 weeks to have a better immune response and a better safety profile.
A debatable question is the following: is it really necessary to vaccinate children between 5 and 11 years old against COVID-19? Do Spanish parents share the same feeling as the Ministry of Health? In a survey carried out at the end of 2021 published by Appinio, a market research company, 74% of Spanish parents were in favor of vaccinating their young children against COVID , while 12.3% assured I would not do it; the remaining 13.7% were undecided. Something similar happened when vaccination was proposed in adolescents between 12 and 17 years old, but today we have that more than 92% of people in this age range have been vaccinated (at least one dose).
But then, should children be vaccinated against COVID 19?
It is true that being under 12 years of age is not a risk factor for COVID 19 to manifest in its severe form, in addition to the fact that 99.7% of the cases diagnosed during the fifth wave in this age range barely presented a mild picture of the disease , and even half of these were asymptomatic.
This does not mean that it is not important to vaccinate our little ones, since if a child becomes infected and is a carrier of the virus, even if he is asymptomatic, he can transmit it to other people who are among the risk groups, such as the elderly or people with impaired immunity.
So what is intended with childhood vaccination is to reduce the viral load in this group in order to reduce transmission in their closest environment (family, schools, community, etc.), thus contributing to the protection of the most vulnerable in our society. .
Another point in favor, for concerned parents, is that the vaccine will not lead to changes in the vaccination schedule of each community, since it can be administered concomitantly with any other vaccine, as long as it is in different anatomical sites. . In other words, it is not necessary to wait for any interval between the different vaccines in the childhood vaccination schedule and the coronavirus vaccine.
The Iberian Peninsula: Leader in vaccination against COVID 19 in Europe
Spain is, together with Portugal, at the head of the vaccination campaign in Europe , with more than 82% and 90% (respectively) of its total population fully vaccinated. Although if we focus on the age ranges that have been able to be vaccinated so far, in Spain, more than 90% of people aged 12 or over have a complete vaccine schedule, and with the clear and defined childhood vaccination strategy that it is taking so far, to date, 56.9% of children between 5 and 11 years old, have at least their first dose.
Previously, in May 2021, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) authorized the use of Pfizer’s vaccine for children aged 12 to 15 years, and the first vaccine for this age group began to be distributed in Spain that same summer before beginning of the academic year. To date, 87% of the population between 12 and 19 years of age have a complete vaccination schedule , even surpassing those in their twenties and thirties, who just over 83% have received the second dose.
COVID 19 vaccination for children under 5 years of age
As for considering vaccination for a population of children under 5 years of age , the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) still needs more data, and has asked vaccine manufacturers to provide more information about the ongoing clinical trial, which consists of the administration of three doses for children from 0 to 4 years of age.
The main vaccine manufacturer, Pfizer, stated that the reason for a third dose is because the two doses originally proposed did not provide the expected levels of immunity for children aged 2 to 5 years, although it did for those under 2 years.
Pfizer and BioNTech stated that they are studying full data that will be presented in early April 2022 . If this Urgent Use Authorization (EUA) is approved, it will be the first COVID vaccine available to the younger sector of the population. Among the data available so far in this study, we can highlight that, while the dose for the child population between 5 and 11 years of age is 10 micrograms, as previously mentioned, for those under 5 years of age it will become of 3 micrograms.
Despite the fact that many countries, including Spain, are in a better position to defend themselves against COVID 19 with their mass vaccination programs and the consequent drop in the number of those infected with serious consequences, experts have warned that it should not be celebrated too much. early. The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) continues to emphasize the importance of protective measures such as the use of masks, social distancing and the prevention of crowds to reduce the burden on health systems. It is clear that children under 12 years of age should also be included in the scope of vaccination to contain transmission and achieve herd immunity.
References:
Macro data. (2022, February 16). COVID-19 – Vaccines Administered 2022 . Datamacro.com. https://datosmacro.expansion.com/others/coronavirus-vaccine
EMA. (2021, November 25). Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine: EMA recommends approval for children aged 5 to 11. European Medicines Agency. https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/news/comirnaty-covid-19-vaccine-ema-recommends-approval-children-aged-5-11
Fernandez, M.T. (2021, December 14). How many parents will vaccinate their children against Covid-19? Medical Writing. https://www.redaccionmedica.com/secciones/sanidad-hoy/tres-de-cada-cuatro-padres-vacunara-a-sus-hijos-contra-el-covid-19-2653
Government of Spain (2022, February 18). COVID-19 vaccination strategy . Government of Spain. https://www.vacunacovid.gob.es/
The Moncloa (2021, December 13). Health distributes more than 1.3 million pediatric vaccines among the autonomous communities and cities. La Moncloa: Presidency of the Government. https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/serviciosdeprensa/notasprensa/sanidad14/Paginas/2021/131221-vacunas_pediatricas.aspx
Ministry of Health (2022, January 31). COVID 19 vaccination in children: Questions and answers. Ministry of Health. https://www.sanidad.gob.es/profesionales/saludPublica/prevPromocion/vacunaciones/covid19/docs/Vacuna_COVID_poblacion_infantil_PreguntasyRespuestas.pdf
Reuters. (2022, February 17). Vaccination tracker. Reuters. https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/vaccination-rollout-and-access/
National Health System (2021, December 27). Update 10: Vaccination strategy against COVID-19 in Spain . Interterritorial Council of the National Health System. https://www.sanidad.gob.es/profesionales/saludPublica/prevPromocion/vacunaciones/covid19/docs/COVID-19_Actualizacion10_EstrategiaVacunacion.pdf
Spanish News Today (2022, February 14). Transmission rate of Omicron plummets in Spain. Spanish News Today. https://spanishnewstoday.com/transmissiona_rate_of_omicron_plummets_in_spain_1735171-a.html
Walter, E. B., Talaat, K. R., Sabharwal, C., et al. (2022, January 6). Evaluation of the BNT162b2 Covid-19 Vaccine in Children 5 to 11 Years of Age. New England Journal of Medicine, 386(1):35-46. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2116298. https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa2116298
