The young vaccine: why there is still no vaccination plan for minors without risk factors

While the vaccination plan focuses on the application of second doses to the danger of community circulation of Delta variant, to the government the discussion on the possible vaccination of minors between 12 and 17 years old without risk factors, a population estimated at around seven million young people.

Debate and the exchange of opinions are intensifying in the before the arrival of Pfizer vaccines, approved by the FDA for pediatric use, which could arrive in the country in September, once the Nation’s Department of Health has finished defining the logistical issues with the American laboratory. It is because if certain persons in charge of this portfolio maintain that it is necessary to vaccinate young people between 12 and 17 years old, the members of the committee of experts who advise the Government question this strategy. “Not because we do not want to vaccinate adolescents, but because of the number of doses available”, they assure and wonder: “What if these vaccines were needed as a third dose?”.

The application of doses in this age group is behind the objective of achieving true collective immunity, that is to say the vaccination of a figure close to 90% of the population with the aim of reducing virus circulation. Last week, the government unveiled its intention to reach this figure: the Minister of Health of the Nation Carla Vizzotti Together with Presidential Advisor Cecilia Nicolini, they held a virtual meeting with researchers and referents from the field of medical regulation from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to better understand the emergency use of Sinopharm vaccine against COVID-19 in people aged 3 to 17 years. These studies will be shared in the coming weeks with representatives of ANMAT and CONAIN.

The United Arab Emirates have conducted clinical trials with doses of Sinopharm in this population, to which they have applied two doses with a interval of at least 21 days and the results, according to the Nation’s Ministry of Health, “were positive and similar to adults, both in terms of safety and immunogenicity ”.

So far the government has allocated 1.8 million doses of Moderna donated by the United States to vaccinate those under 18 with risk factors, a population that Casa Rosada has prioritized.

The government is already starting to plan a possible vaccination campaign among minors between 12 and 17 years old without risk factors. Minimum and considering a level of vaccine loss of 10%, more than 14 million doses will be needed to complete the two schedules. By the end of the year, Casa Rosada expects 20 million doses of Pfizer and a shipment of eight million from Sinopharm in September which, if approved for pediatric use, could provide answers to this tranche of ‘age.

However, in the case of both vaccines, it is not yet clear what their use will be. In the case of Pfizer, there is an area of ​​the Healthcare portfolio which argues that part of the lots should be safeguarded as possible reinforcement in case the Delta variant endangers the most vulnerable groups. As for Sinopharm, the vaccination studies of this serum are still pending, which in case of demonstration of the efficacy and safety of its combination with Sputnik V could be used to supplement the schedules of those who have already received an dose of Russian serum.

“The issue has not yet been fully discussed within the expert committee, but we have doubts about the number of doses we are going to have. We have to ask ourselves whether it is necessary to vaccinate a sector which does not have a high risk of death or whether it is preferable to save the doses in case reinforcements are necessary “, he assured. TN.com.ar one of the main government advisers.

The possible vaccination of minors generates two major positions among infectious disease specialists who are opposed: those who maintain that in order to achieve a true collective immunity must be reached 90% of the company, which requires vaccination of those under 18 without risk factors and those who say the priority is to apply second doses and boosters in people over 60 years that they are the ones who suffer the most from the disease and have the possibility of being hospitalized.

According to population estimates for Indec, the number of young people aged 10-14 in July in Argentina stands at 3,622,606, while that of 15-19 year-olds stands at 3,506,737. The 20 million Moderna vaccines that are also licensed for pediatric use will be added to Pfizer and Sinopharm doses in 2022.

Health sources recognize TN.com.ar that in the case of a start of vaccination in minors, it would start with the age group of 12 to 17 years and then, with a greater degree of scientific proof, with children between 3 and 11 years old, although let everything be a matter of analysis.