WHO recommends prioritizing COVID-19 vaccination for adults over vaccination for children

COVID-19 vaccines were developed in less than a year. There are currently 8 vaccines approved for emergency use in adults. Since last December, they began to be applied in different countries. But only 12.7% of the world’s population has received at least one dose of the vaccine against COVID-19, the disease that has already claimed the lives of more than 3.7 million people on the planet. Given the slow progress in immunization due to the shortage of doses, the World Health Organization has clarified that today children should not be among the priority groups to access COVID vaccines- 19.

The scientific director of this United Nations health agency, Soumya Swaminathan, said: “The reason why the WHO today – June 2021 – says that immunizing children is not a priority is because than children can be infected with the coronavirus and can transmit it, but they have a lower risk of developing serious illness compared to older people ”.

Official Swaminathan added: “This is why we have started to prioritize people who should be vaccinated when there is a limited amount of vaccine available in the country. We recommend vaccinating healthcare workers who are at high risk of exposure to infection, the elderly, people with previous illnesses, who are at higher risk of serious illness, and start with these groups. Protect them first because we seek to reduce death rates that we observe globally today, then gradually go down the ages until we reach boys ”.

“I agree with the WHO recommendation. Today, vaccinating children is not essential because there are many adults who have not yet received the doses, “he said. Infobae Dr Lautaro De Vedia, former president of the Argentine Society of Infectology and of the Muñiz Hospital in Buenos Aires.

Dr Swaminathan acknowledged that some children are at a higher risk of developing serious illness from coronavirus infection due to previous illnesses, vulnerability or co-morbidities. “These children could potentially be prioritized for vaccines if they are available. But boys as a group have a lower priority, ”Swaminathan said.

Currently, different companies and institutions are conducting clinical trials with vaccines in their application to children and adolescents. They started with teenagers aged 12 to 18 and will gradually decrease in age. When the results of these studies are available, the WHO Vaccine Advisory Group, known by its acronym SAGE, will review the data from these studies and “make recommendations on how vaccines should be used in children.” . the official said in the episode Science in Five, produced by the same health organization. This advisory committee will indicate what would be the interval between doses for boys and if there are any precautions or contraindications.

Today, “we must protect the most vulnerable,” said the official. Globally, 2.4 billion doses have been applied and 33.1 million are administered each day. But only 0.8% of people living in low-income countries received at least one dose.

“Children don’t need to be vaccinated before they go back to school. We have seen that many schools have been kept open with great success. And while adults who work in schools are vaccinated and adults in the community are vaccinated, infections begin to decrease. Following the other measures, schools should be safely reopened, ”said the WHO official.

Consulted by Infobae, Analía De Cristófano, member of the Argentine Society of Infectology and Head of the Pediatric Infectology Department at the Italian Hospital in Buenos Aires, agree with the WHO position: “The truth is that today the population of children in general is not a population to prioritize. But it should be taken into account that some children, such as oncology patients or immunocompromised patients, may have a greater risk of developing severe symptoms of COVID-19. It would be important to prioritize children with risk factors when vaccines are approved according to age in our country ”,

So far, in the United States, only the vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNtech has been approved for use in minors between the ages of 12 and 17. The rest of the vaccines can only be applied to people over 18 years of age, although it is expected that at all times the Moderna laboratory will receive permission to be received by adolescents.

Besides the United States, Canada, Singapore and Hong Kong allow the use of Pfizer / BioNTech vaccines from the age of 12. In the case of China, it is possible that they will start vaccinating boys this year. The regulatory agency has already taken the first step by approving the use of the country’s Sinovac vaccine for children aged 3 to 17, and then announced the same for the Sinopharm vaccine. But a date for the start of the injections has not yet been set.

On March 22, Russia’s Gamaleya Institute reported that it was developing modifications of Sputnik V based on the characteristics of different population groups, especially for children of different ages, according to director Alexander Gintsburg.

The argument of those in favor of vaccinating children – which they are – is that they can pass the virus on to others. If countries are seeking herd immunity through their immunization campaigns, immunizing children should be part of the plan. But that defeats the issues of slow delivery and the possibility that those most at risk in developing countries will actually have access to vaccines.

For example, in Thailand it has only vaccinated 4% of its population so far, and the demand for adult vaccines exceeds supply. “Right now, given the vaccine shortage, any vaccine available must be prioritized based on age and risk,” said Jerome Kim, director of the International Vaccine Institute in Seoul, Korea. South. “It is really important to get this vaccine to where it is needed now.”

In Europe, the question is already debated. Because the European Union will vaccinate 70% of its population against COVID-19. The vaccination plan on its territory should follow for those under 18. The European Medicines Agency has approved the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine for 12 to 16 year olds. The French and German governments start this month with the teenagers. Spain will vaccinate those under 40 between July and August. But it has pledged to deliver some 22.5 million doses to the COVAX mechanism by 2022.

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