The Swiss medicines agency Swissmedic on Friday approved the immunization against the coronavirus of children from the age of 5 with Pfizer's messenger RNA vaccine, Cominarty.
"The results of clinical trials show that vaccination is both safe and effective"
in 5-11 year olds, who until now could not be vaccinated, according to Swissmedic.
Read also Covid-19: the Swiss largely validate the health pass in a tense national context
Cominarty is administered in two doses of 10 micrograms three weeks apart,
"which corresponds to one third of the dose administered to adolescents and adults"
, underlines Swissmedic. A clinical trial
"still in progress which includes more than 1,500 participants shows that this vaccine against Covid-19 almost completely prevents serious pathologies caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus in children aged 5 to 11"
, according to the Swiss agency. For now, vaccination was reserved for children from 12 years old.
Switzerland is experiencing a very strong fifth wave of Covid-19. Schools play an important role here, but not always recognized by certain cantonal authorities, which have been slow to take measures. Thus Geneva is only beginning to impose the wearing of masks on children in primary from eight years old, in the neighboring canton of Vaud it will be at 10 years old and camps and school trips are maintained there. In Bern, schools will close a week earlier for the Christmas holidays.
Only two vaccines against Covid are authorized in Switzerland: Comirnaty and the vaccine, also with messenger RNA, from Moderna.
By thus giving the green light to the vaccination of children from the age of 5, Switzerland is notably joining Portugal, Italy, Greece or Spain in terms of Europe.
Canada and the United States, as well as Israel and Chile, have also authorized the vaccination of children as young.
In France, only the vaccination of children at risk of developing serious forms has been approved, but the government has said it is considering extending it
"to all children" on a "voluntary" basis.