Health experts around the world have time and again harped on the importance of mass vaccination in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. While most of the countries have begun or have already inoculated a fair section of the adult population, children fall next in line with the COVID vaccination.
The United Kingdom will soon be able to give COVID vaccine doses to children aged 12-15 as soon as the chief medical officers give their go-ahead to the plan.
Anyhow, vaccinating children is an important factor in getting the economy and course of things back to normal. Schools and educational institutes have been closed for almost 2 years now owing to the virus fears and scientists strongly advise against putting children together in a room before vaccination.
Considering all of that, childrens’ vaccination seems like a hot topic in today’s scenario. In this article, we will try to map developments around minor’s vaccinations and it’s status in key countries.
France: The country has been a hotspot of coronavirus since the advent of the pandemic and has seen several waves of infection. Thus, France has been moving quickly in terms of childrens’ vaccination and has already covered 66% of its 12-17 aged population with 52% of them being fully vaccinated against COVID.
Germany: Country’s scientific advisers recommended in June 2021 that the vaccine should only be offered to children aged 12 to 15 with underlying health conditions. But in August, after the Delta variant surge, the rollout was extended to all those over 12 years old.
Sweden: Allows vaccination of children aged 12-15 only if they have lung disease, severe asthma or another high-risk medical condition
US ad Canadian health regulators were the first to approve the Pfizer jab for use in children from 12 years and older in May. The rollout started immediately at sites across the US with two injections given three weeks apart.
China: In June, China approved that some children aged three to 17 years old must be offered shots of a vaccine produced by drug-maker Sinovac. This made China the first country to approve COVID vaccines for such a young age group.
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India: Indian government has not yet rolled out vaccination for children but has said that children aged 12-17 with comorbidities will get the vaccine by October or November 2021.
