These are the most important questions and answers about vaccinations for five to eleven year olds:
The corona incidence is currently highest among children and adolescents: According to the latest figures from the Robert Koch Institute, it is more than 950 in the group of five to nine year olds and more than 1000 in children aged ten to 14 years .
As several studies have shown, children play a role in the spread of the virus, even if they rarely become seriously ill from corona themselves. With a view to the Christmas holidays, virologists like Martin Stürmer, a lecturer at the University of Frankfurt, argue that vaccination can reduce the risk of transmission within families. A vaccination can also protect against possible consequential damage such as Long Covid or Pediatric Inflammatory Multi-Organ Syndrome (PIMS). PIMS is a very rare but dangerous long-term consequence of an often symptom-free Covid-19 infection. The disease often begins with abdominal pain and fever and extends to severe cardiovascular disorders and neurological deficits.
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Stiko recommends vaccination for children without previous illnesses if there are contact persons in their environment who are at high risk of a severe course of Covid-19 who cannot, or can only inadequately, be protected by a vaccination – for example, very old people or those with a weakened immune system .
The Stiko paper published on Thursday is not yet a final decision, as usual there is still a coordination process with specialist societies and countries.
What speaks against vaccinating children?
According to Stiko, children in this age group with no previous illnesses have only a low risk of severe Covid 19 disease, hospitalization and intensive treatment. In addition, the risk of rare side effects of vaccination cannot currently be assessed due to the limited data available.
According to Barbara Mühlfeld, pediatrician and Hessian spokeswoman for the professional association of paediatricians (BVKJ), the current data situation does not justify proactively vaccinating the group of five to eleven year olds. Severe courses or diseases such as PIMS are extremely rare and Long Covid in children is currently not yet adequately researched, she told Hessischer Rundfunk.
And Peter Dötsch, President of the German Society for Child and Adolescent Medicine, told the Handelsblatt: “In no case should we vaccinate children just for social reasons, so that we can finally raise the general vaccination quota.” Children are not there to protect adults – it must be the other way around.
Which side effects of the vaccination are known?
Biontech and Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine for children aged five to eleven contains only a third of the amount of active ingredient given to adolescents and adults aged twelve and over. It was approved on November 25th by the European Medicines Agency Ema on the basis of clinical studies in which the vaccine was tested on 2,268 children between the ages of five and eleven in different countries. The protective effect against Covid 19 disease is given as 91 percent.
Experts evaluated the data in the “New England Journal of Medicine”. According to her, no serious vaccine-related side effects were observed, only the symptoms that also occur in adolescents and adults. They are mild and temporary: fever, pain at the injection site, fatigue or headache are part of it. The vaccination is safe and effective, is the conclusion.
In the opinion of the authors, the only three more severe damage in the observation period had no connection with the vaccination – in one case it was a broken arm. Heart muscle inflammation, as it occasionally occurred after a broad vaccination of over twelve-year-olds, was not found.
For the further assessment of the vaccine, the experience from vaccination practice will be important: In the USA and Israel, children have been vaccinated with the vaccine from Biontech / Pfizer since November. As soon as further data on the safety of the vaccine in this age group or other relevant findings are available, Stiko will, according to its own statements, examine these immediately and adjust its recommendation if necessary.
How much vaccine is there for children?
According to the Federal Ministry of Health, around 2.4 million doses of the special vaccine for children will be distributed in a first tranche. 2.2 million doses go through pharmaceutical wholesalers, and there are also country quotas that are made available. For this week, medical practices had requested around 800,000 doses. In addition to pediatrician practices, child vaccinations are also planned in public vaccination centers in some places.
When it actually starts, however, differs depending on the federal state. Those who do not get the vaccination this week will have another opportunity in January. The contracted doctors have to order further vaccine doses by January 4, 2022, in order to receive deliveries from January 10.
According to Stiko, two doses of the mRNA vaccine should be given at intervals of three to six weeks. There is still no approved vaccine for younger children.
More: EU medical authority releases vaccine for children