For the time being, minors are not yet vaccinated simply because there is no vaccine for them yet. Although hard work is being done behind the scenes. “Pfizer is currently the only manufacturer that has developed a vaccine for young people from the age of sixteen,” Pfizer medical director Marc Kaptein told EditieNL. “We are also conducting several studies on vaccinations among minors. One study is being conducted among twelve to fifteen-year-olds. We expect results from this soon. There are also three studies of ages between six months and eleven years.”
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In the development of the corona vaccine, the elderly had priority, which is why there was not yet a focus on developing a medicine for children. “In children, it is all about the dose. The younger the child, the greater the chance that the dose will be smaller.”
Pfizer has no opinion on whether children should be vaccinated. “We are not going to discuss that either, that is up to the government. Personally I think it makes sense and can have added value because it can reduce the chance of mutations.”
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OMT member and chairman of the Dutch Pediatric Association Károly Illy also thinks it is important to eventually vaccinate children. “It is now the case that the vaccine has simply not yet been tested on children. And so we do not know whether it is safe. The advice is therefore not to give it to that target group.”
Nevertheless, he hopes that this will change in the future. “It is very important that children and young people are eventually vaccinated. The Netherlands has 3.4 million citizens under the age of 18. That is about 20 percent of the total number of inhabitants. If they are not vaccinated and others people for whatever reason. If you do not get vaccinated, it will affect vaccination coverage. In addition, children and especially teenagers play a clear role in the spread of the virus. “
Medical risk groups
In a response to EditieNL, the Ministry of Health and Welfare informed EditieNL that no minors are currently being vaccinated because there is no approved vaccine for them yet. “The health council is working on an advice as to whether it is wise to vaccinate children who belong to a medical risk group and whether it is advisable to vaccinate their environment if they cannot receive a vaccine themselves. We expect to receive this advice at the beginning of April. “
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