Children from 12 years of age at risk will receive the Covid-19 vaccine
Children and adolescents aged 12-15 years at risk of seriously contracting the coronavirus are offered vaccination against Covid-19 in Norway. This is after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved the BioNTech / Pfizer vaccine for this age group last Friday.
– Risk of serious illness from Covid-19 children and adolescents is very low. However, some children and young people with particularly serious underlying health conditions may benefit from a Covid-19 vaccine. Says Chief Medical Officer Margrethe Greve-Isdahl at FHI.
Up to 3000 children will be offered an immunization
The BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine was offered to 16-17 year-olds earlier this year, and around 900 young people have been vaccinated in this age group so far. It is estimated that 2000 to 3000 children and adolescents aged 12 to 15 will now also receive the Covid-19 vaccine.
– The offer is addressed to a narrow group children and adolescents over 12 years of age. These are children who have previously suffered very serious diseases, such as cancer, organ transplants, people with severe or congenital immunodeficiency, severe and complex neurological diseases or congenital syndromes. These children and young people can benefit from the protection provided by the vaccine, explains Chief Medical Officer Margrethe Greve-Isdahl at FHI.
The municipality will contact the children when they are scheduled to be vaccinated
Now information will be prepared for municipalities, paediatricians and family doctors about which children can be offered the vaccine and how quickly it can be introduced. These children and adolescents receive two doses. Suitable patients are offered offers after explaining the practical conditions in more detail. The interested persons or their guardians do not have to contact the commune or the doctor himself.
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The most important thing is to protect children and adolescents, regardless of the degree of the underlying risk, many adults today are taking vaccines to reduce the level of infection in society, Greve-Isdahl emphasizes.
Children from 12 years of age will receive the vaccine
The National Institute of Public Health collaborates with the Norwegian Pediatric Society on the recommendations. If new knowledge about factors becomes available risk in children and adolescents, recommendations may change.
So far we have learned during the pandemic that covid-19 does not appear to cause serious disease in all of the same risk groups that we see for influenza, which may be more likely to cause serious infections in children and adolescents with comorbidities, concludes Greve-Isdahl.
