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Catherine Lyons, mother
“I'm looking forward to it.
I'm a mother who says: I can't wait to protect my child and family, to stop worrying. "
Ben Parker, father
“One hundred percent.
The second our daughter can get the vaccine, she'll get the shot.
We can hardly wait."
In the United States, the vaccine campaign for children between the ages of five and eleven began since the vaccine from Biontech and Pfizer received emergency approval at the end of last week.
15 million doses of vaccine are now to be delivered to paediatricians, clinics and pharmacies.
Matthew Harris, an emergency doctor at a large children's hospital in New York, advises parents to have their offspring vaccinated.
Matthew Harris
,
Cohen Children's Medical Center New York
“In the United States, six million children between the ages of 0 and 18 have been diagnosed with Covid.
It was a million in September alone.
1.9 million were between five and eleven years old, and 8,400 of them were hospitalized. "
Of these 8,400 children between five and eleven, around a third had to be treated in the intensive care unit, according to the US Medicines Agency.
Around a hundred died.
Matthew Harris
Cohen Children's Medical Center New York
“So there is an urgent need for vaccinations.
The data from Pfizer is impressive: the vaccine is 90% protective against disease and looks overwhelmingly safe. "
According to Biontech / Pfizer, a clinical study with more than 2,200 children between the ages of five and eleven showed that the vaccine was “well tolerated” for this age group and produced a “strong immune response”.
Children are given a significantly lower dose of the vaccine than adults.
Still, many parents - like this New Jersey mother - have concerns.
Cara Doble, mother
»The vaccination will enable us to feel more comfortable with my parents.
My father is severely immunocompromised and the children haven't seen my parents for two years.
But I also have concerns.
I am very aware of what could happen in the days after the vaccination.
But what makes me nervous the most is probably going to the doctor with them to get the injection.
That will be the hardest part. "
Matthew Harris
,
Cohen Children's Medical Center New York
“One of the reservations some parents have about vaccination is the risk of myocarditis. We know from older children that such myocarditis is a rare side effect, and that every single child in the United States who has had such rare myocarditis has made a full recovery - both in terms of heart images and ECG, MRI and clinical findings. But we also know that children with severe Covid disease and with multi-system inflammation syndrome (PIMS) suffer severe heart muscle injuries. And these children often require a lot of intensive care and lengthy hospital stays. That is why it is very importantto see the very low risk of myocarditis from the vaccination compared to the very high risk of severe heart disease in connection with Covid and PIMS. "
It is true that children are significantly less seriously ill from a Sars-CoV-2 infection than adults. PIMS syndrome, in which severe inflammatory reactions occur in various organs, is also rare - but:
Matthew Harris
,
Cohen Children's Medical Center New York
“I'm a pediatric emergency doctor. And these kids with PIMS are some of the sickest I've seen in my career. There are 5200 documented cases of PIMS in children in the United States with 46 deaths, and the majority of children with PIMS are between five and eleven years of age. I have school-age children of my own, seven-year-old twins, and I understand that this is a difficult decision for parents to make. But for me the calculation is simple: this is the easiest way to protect my children. I understand parents are nervous, but this is not the time to be complacent. "
Biontech and Pfizer have also applied for approval of their corona vaccine for children aged five to eleven in Europe.
A decision by the European approval authority EMA is expected before Christmas.
In addition to the manufacturer's study, the Standing Vaccination Commission wants to conduct its own data analysis in order to be able to rule out even rarer side effects.