China, where the pandemic began, begins immunizing children as young as three

As countries like Argentina drown and run behind the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic with the vaccine shortage as a determining factor in the health situation, others, like the United States or Europe , progress in immunizing their populations under 16 years of age.

Last week, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) supported the extension of use Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine for adolescents aged 12 to 15, making it the first preparation against COVID-19 with scientific support in the European Union for those under 16. He had already done the same thing with the same formulation the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) when, on May 10, it also authorized its application in this age group, in what they called “a milestone in the fight against the pandemic” .

The American pharmaceutical company Moderna, meanwhile, also announced that its vaccine against COVID-19 strongly protects children from the age of 12, a step that could put the injection in the process of becoming the second option for this group of people. age in the United States. United.

The Israeli Ministry of Health, meanwhile, approved the coronavirus vaccination for the 12 to 15-year-old group last Wednesday and has already started applying the first doses. Some 630,000 young Israelis are now eligible for the coronavirus vaccine and, as has been the case for adults, will receive two injections of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine three weeks apart.

China is going further, and is preparing to vaccinate children from the age of three against COVID-19, thus becoming the first country in the world to vaccinate the youngest, a pharmaceutical company announced on Tuesday.

The Asian giant, where COVID-19 appeared at the end of 2019, has already administered nearly 800 million doses, so far only to those over 18.

Beijing, which has practically eradicated the epidemic in its territory since May 2020, hopes to be able to vaccinate at least 70% of its population by the end of the year, or one billion inhabitants. A spokesperson for the Sinovac laboratory, which produces one of the three injectables authorized in the country, told the AFP What its immune Coronavac could be distributed to minors.

“It was approved [el uso de] Sinovac vaccine in recent days for three to 17 year olds “, declared at AFP, without specifying when the first doses would be administered. The pharmaceutical company has completed its clinical trials in children and adolescents, the results of which should be published in the British journal The Lancet, he added.

In addition to Sinovac (two doses), China has approved the use of Sinopharm (two) and Cansino Biologics (one). The drugs of the first two have also received approval from the World Health Organization (WHO) for use in adults.

The Asian giant, where COVID-19 appeared at the end of 2019, has already administered nearly 800 million doses, so far only to those over 18.

So while many developing countries are still trying to obtain doses to immunize their populations most at risk against the coronavirus, others are advancing in the vaccination of minors and the gap seems to become more and more insurmountable.

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