The European Medicines Agency has approved the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children aged 12 to 15.
The European Medicines Agency announced that the use of the Comirnaty vaccine in children from 12 to 15 will be the same as it is in people aged 16 and above. It is given as two injections in the muscles of the upper arm, given three weeks apart. A reminder that in the United Kingdom, the current advice is a twelve week wait between doses of the vaccine.
Pressure is now being applied on the UK regulator and the UK Government to announce similar approval in the United Kingdom, but when Sky News pressed vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi on the question about approval, he reiterated that the process wasn’t a simple one and that many difficult decisions would have to be taken.
Pressure on Government comes as SAGE advisors warned that the UK is on a knife-edge with rising cases, mainly caused by the Indian Variant of the virus, which continues to spread in areas of London, The Midlands, North West England and parts of Scotland.
A decision to approve vaccines in children aged 12-15 is likely to cause many difficult discussions, with many people of the view that vaccinating children is a risk, considering that it is extremely rare for young children to get severely as a result of COVID-19 and just a handful of worldwide deaths have been seen in those aged under 16, in comparison to older age groups.
Full link to European Medicines Agency approval – https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/news/first-covid-19-vaccine-approved-children-aged-12-15-eu
