Colombia launches vaccination for 3-11 year olds with Sinovac

Europe 1 with AFP
8:04 a.m., October 30, 2021–After the United States, Colombia in turn authorizes the vaccination of children. Colombians aged 3 to 11 will be able to be vaccinated with Sinovac on Sunday. “The goal is to vaccinate around 7.1 million children in this age group,” said the Minister of Health.

Children aged 3 to 11 in Colombia will be able to be vaccinated against the coronavirus from Sunday with the Chinese Sinovac vaccine, Colombian President Ivan Duque announced on Friday. “From this October 31 (…) we are opening the vaccination against Covid-19 to children from 3 to 11 years old, with the Sinovac vaccine,” the head of state wrote on Twitter. “The goal is to vaccinate around 7.1 million children in this age group,” said Health Minister Fernando Ruiz. Children are unlikely to develop severe forms of the disease, but can be infected and transmit the virus.

Sinovac, a safe vaccine for the authorities

To authorize the vaccination of children, the Ministry of Health “took the green light given by Invima”, the Colombian drug regulator, added Fernando Ruiz, and Sinovac “has proven to be a safe vaccine (…) it has been tested on several million Colombians “. China and Chile have also authorized the use of this vaccine for minors. The United States, the country most bereaved by the pandemic, on Friday authorized Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine for 5 to 11 year olds, paving the way for the imminent launch of a new major stage in the immunization campaign, which concerns 28 million children in the country.