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More than 3 million children could receive Pfizer serum as of the second half of December, if the Public Health Commission so decides today
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The Public Health Commission, which brings together technicians from the autonomous communities and the Ministry of Health, is holding a meeting this morning on the agenda of which is the vaccination strategy against coronavirus in children from 5 to 11 years old, the population segment that is not yet immunized and in which the incidence is soaring: 390 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to 234 for the general average. It remains to be seen how, when and where the punctures are carried out. That is something that the autonomous communities will decide, as explained by the Minister of Health, Carolina Darias. If approved (everything points to yes), the campaign would not begin before the second half of December, which is when the safe and effective serums will be available. As with what has happened with the rest of the population, vaccines will not be mandatory.
Several weeks ago, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) gave the go-ahead to administer Pfizer to children under 12 years of age, something that has been happening for some time in the US and Canada. France has also recommended injections for boys and girls. Given the mild consequences that the disease usually has in minors (50% are usually asymptomatic), childhood immunization is not urgent but it is important. And it is for several reasons, as explained by pediatricians: their right to individual protection, advance group immunity, decrease the circulation of the virus and the appearance of new variants.
“I hope that the best decisions are made in relation to childhood vaccination. The serums will arrive on December 13 and I hope that we are in the best conditions, both the communities and the Government, to start inoculating if the Public Health Commission decides so. . The modality will have to decide the autonomies “, has emphasized Darias, in Brussels, where he meets with his European counterparts to analyze the situation of the pandemic, which is hitting some countries with particular virulence.
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In today’s decision Public Health Commission and later the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System The opinion of the Vaccine Conference, made up of experts, will weigh heavily, and it will foreseeably prepare a document with its position on the benefits of vaccination against covid in that age group.
In Spain, more than 3 million children could receive Pfize serumr. It will not be the same dose as that of adults, but a third. It remains to be seen whether boys and girls also receive two doses and what time interval will elapse between the first puncture and the second.
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