Children exposed to a more contagious virus: the debate to add them soon to the COVID-19 vaccination

Coronavirus pandemic accelerates in children, a situation which was exacerbated with the return of the school year in the northern hemisphere and with very contagious variants. US data acts like premonitory message: country reviews records of children hospitalized with COVID-19.

The last week of August saw the incidence of the coronavirus among miners across the country increase fivefold from a month ago, with an average of 330 admitted to hospitals, a record, of which much less than two years.

The situation is worrying for US health authorities. A total of 204,000 cases were added last week, reaching the worst levels last winter, a massive jump from 38,000 on July 22, 2020. The country is once again going through a difficult period due to the pandemic, with a group of 48 million people who do not have the opportunity to be vaccinated: children under 12

Whereas in Europe this reality is not exactly extrapolated, experts do not hesitate to attribute the increase in infections in boys to the low level of immunization. With these figures, more virulent variants of SARS-CoV-2, spark a debate that many specialists recognize as “uncomfortable”: Pediatricians do not rule out that children are vaccinated against the coronavirus, even babies from 2022.

In this sense, a group of international scientists, as well as members of the British educational community, published this Friday in the magazine British medical journal an open letter in which They call for action to prevent “massive infection in children” by reopening British schools.

The nearly 30 researchers signing the letter, from the UK, US, Germany, India and Norway, warn the prevalence of cases on UK soil is 26 times higher than at the start of the course last year and warn that the majority variant, the Delta, is more contagious than the previous ones.

To minimize the increase in infections, they are urging the executive to offer coronavirus vaccines to minors between the ages of 12 and 15, a measure the government is still considering. The measure aims not only to protect them from possible complex images of a coronavirus infection, but also stop the spread of the virus.

A growing trend?

Since the start of the pandemic, children have accounted for 14.8% of positive cases in the United States, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Last week, that percentage increased by almost 8 points, to 22.4%, and there are already 4.8 million cases of an infection that seemed harmless to the younger population but has already killed 496 people. ., according to figures from that country’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, for its acronym).

Looking at what is happening in the different regions, the incidence of cases presents a similar situation with the adult population. Southern states have more hospitalizations among minors than any other part of the country, with a particular incidence in places like Wyoming, Mississippi, Louisiana – affected by the passage of Hurricane Ida – and Florida, the state with the most people admitted for coronavirus in the present.

For the country’s medical authorities, the significant increase in the number of children and young people is linked to the low level of immunization, especially in states where immunization rates are lower, but which also have large groups. anti-inoculant deniers and skeptics. 19.

Cautious about what the return to school can generate, the authorities of the United Kingdom, Germany and France have added a greater observation to the verification of this trend. In this regard, the French President, Emmanuel Macron It did not exclude the opening of vaccination to children under 12, although it conditions it on the advice of “specialists”.

“As soon as the scientists say we open it to the youngest, we will,” but “for the moment we continue with the over 12s,” Macron said.

For him Antoine Fauci, America’s foremost infectious disease expert, It’s a question of time. The schedule for a vaccine for children under 12, initially slated for this fall, appears to have slowed as authorities consider safety, efficacy and dosage.. Fauci recently announced that an injection may be available for young children “hopefully in the middle, late fall and early winter”. Vaccines are expected first for children aged 5 to 11; Children as young as six months may have to wait longer.

Even though doubts abound, specialists in Germany they are also in favor of the vaccination of children. The general secretary of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive and Emergency Medicine (DIVI), Florian Hoffmann, he told the country’s press: “We firmly assume that there will be vaccines for all age groups from next year, even approved for newborns.”

Several Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna studies are currently underway, some even with babies. Based on this information, a vaccine for children under the age of twelve is expected by the end of this year, Hoffmann said.. This group should receive a reduced dose of vaccine.

After insinuating that there were parents who had their children vaccinated without permission, according to The temperature, the government of Boris Johnson communicate that written consent from adults in charge will be required before children are given an anti-COVID-19 inoculant.

The government is said to be finalizing plans, which aim to avoid confrontations with parents, although the British government wants to set up vaccination centers in schools. Boris Johnson says UK needs to ‘go faster’ with vaccination of young people and confirms September booster vaccination plan.

The case of Israel

Children aged 5 to 11 who are susceptible to serious complications from the coronavirus can be vaccinated from August 1 in Israel.

In a document published last July, the Israeli Ministry of Health has approved that children be vaccinated, but in the event of “a special authorization where each vaccination will be studied on a case-by-case basis,” he said.

While the vaccination of minors is under consideration, the Jewish state has decided to require COVID-19 tests for children aged 3 to 11 to enter schools, swimming pools, hotels or gymnasiums, in a time when infections multiplied, despite the vast vaccination campaign. in adults.

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