Injections of the Covid-19 vaccine to children aged 5 to 11 began on Tuesday evening, November 2 in the United States , a new stage in the immunization campaign hailed as a “turning point” by Joe Biden , with 28 million d ‘newly eligible children in the country.
The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) officially recommended injections of Pfizer’s vaccine for this age group on Tuesday , after approval was granted Tuesday, October 26, by the US Medicines Agency (FDA). It is always given as two injections, three weeks apart. But the dosage has been adjusted to 10 micrograms per injection, compared to 30 micrograms for the older groups.
The vaccination “will allow parents to put an end to months of worry for their children” , welcomed the American president immediately after the announcement, welcoming an “important step forward” and a “turning point” in the fight against the pandemic. The government had largely anticipated the decision of the health authorities by procuring enough doses for this age group, and by starting to send millions of them to the four corners of the country. The vaccination campaign for young children “will reach full capacity the week of November 8,” said Jeff Zients, the White House pandemic coordinator.
90.7% efficacy against symptomatic forms
Among 5-11 year olds, more than 1.9 million cases of Covid-19, more than 8,300 hospitalizations, more than 2,300 cases of MIS-C (pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome) and around 100 deaths have been recorded in United States.
According to clinical trials conducted by Pfizer on thousands of children, the vaccine has been shown to be 90.7% effective against symptomatic forms of the disease. In addition to preventing them from falling ill, the expected benefits also include a decrease in the number of class closures, and a possible reduction in the transmission of the epidemic to the general population.
According to a survey presented Tuesday by the Centers for the prevention and control of diseases and carried out in September among 1,000 parents, 57% said that they would “without a doubt” or “probably” vaccinate their child. Among the hesitant, the main concern was the risk of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, detected in adolescents and young adults after vaccination. Experts believe that this risk should be rarer in young children, especially thanks to the reduced dosage.
