After the team of experts recommended vaccinating the children against Corona, based on the data on the effectiveness and safety of the Pfizer vaccine, and not postponing the vaccination campaign until new wave signs appear, many parents' questions arise.
Quite a few questions have also arisen among parents of children who have recovered from Corona, as no decision has yet been made regarding the vaccination of these children.
In this article, "Israel Today" coordinates an answer to a selection of the main questions in the field of corona vaccines.
❓What is the expert recommendation?
The members of the team for the treatment of epidemics recommended by a large majority - 73 against 2 - Pfizer vaccination for children aged 5 to 11. When asked whether to only "allow" the use of the vaccine against "recommendation", the majority chose the recommendation - 68 against eight.
❓Why is there currently no recommendation for a recovering vaccine?
The experts in the committee were not unanimous on the question.
34 supported the vaccine six months after recovery, 23 believed it should be vaccinated regardless of the time of recovery and eight opposed the vaccine.
Even at the beginning of the vaccination campaign for adults and adolescents, immunization began among those who did not recover, and only later were instructions given regarding the vaccine for recovering patients.
This is also expected this time.
Dr. Tal Brosh, center of the epidemiological team and director of the Infectious Diseases Unit at Assuta Ashdod, noted that "recovering children have good protection against recurrent disease, and the question is what is their personal benefit from the vaccine.
On the other hand, there is a decline in this immunity. "
When will the vaccination campaign begin?
The evaluation of the vaccinations will begin in the last week of November.
This is after the director general of the Ministry of Health, Prof. Nachman Ash, announces that he accepts the staff's recommendations for treating epidemics. Pfizer vaccines intended for children are expected to land in Israel within a few days.
Prof. Ash, Photo: Yossi Zeliger
❓What are the side effects of the vaccine?
According to the results of Pfizer's study in 3,000 children who received the vaccine, no case of myocarditis was detected, possibly due to the size of the sample, which was too small.
In the group aged 16 and over, among men, myocarditis was detected in 1 in 6,000 vaccines, in women with a much lower incidence.
Among the children, mainly local and transient side effects were observed, such as local pain at the site of the vaccine (71%), fatigue (39%) and headache (28%).
The reactions were observed shortly after the second dose and passed within a day or two.
In Israel, there were 163 children aged 5 to 11 who received an exceptional approval for the vaccine, and four cases of mild side effects were reported: fever, weakness and local pain in the injection area, in the vicinity of receiving the first dose.
In addition, there was a case of generalized seizure days after receiving the second dose, with no neurological damage.
קורThe corona is declining in Israel, is it not worth waiting to receive the vaccine?
64 voted that the vaccine should not be delayed until a new wave sign, while eight voted in favor of rejection.
Dr. Doron Dushnitzky, a pediatrician, director of the Corona Convalescent Department at Leumit and a member of the epidemiology team, said: The new ones every day are kids.
❓Where will the children be vaccinated?
The vaccines will be given at the health funds in separate positions from the complexes where the adults are vaccinated.
At this stage, no similar instruction was given to the hospitals. However, Prof. Ash said in an interview: "We will insist on vaccinating children in schools."
❓What is the difference from the adult vaccine?
The vaccine dose for children is a third of the dose of the adult vaccine and is packaged in dedicated vials.
Another change made in the children's vaccine increases its stability, and it can be stored refrigerated at 8-2 degrees and not refrigerated from minus 20 to minus 80, as was the case with the adult vaccines.
❓What will be the time difference between the vaccine doses?
The epidemic treatment team has not yet made a decision on the matter.
U.S. child immunization policy and Pfizer's study were similar to adult vaccines - after three weeks of the first dose. It is assumed that a dose interval may delay immune decline.
Is it true that corona in children is a mild disease?
In most cases the disease is mild, but there are complications at not low rates, which outweigh the risk from the vaccine.
In Israel, more than 518,000 children aged 0 to 18 have been infected since the beginning of the epidemic, of whom 206 were in a critical condition, 42 of them aged 5 to 11. 11 children died, of whom four were aged 5 to 11. 1 in 3,000 were suffering from multisystem inflammatory syndrome , Which is accompanied by damage to body systems.