Several EU countries will start vaccinating young children against the coronavirus. In this way, they hope to prevent the virus’s spread and keep schools open.
Germany, Spain, Greece and Hungary are among the countries that will vaccinate children from 5 years old. Denmark already started doing this last month. Initially, the demand for vaccines for children often appears to be high. For example, in Greece, tens of thousands of parents have already approved to have their young children vaccinated.
Parents in the Netherlands have to wait a little longer. In the second half of December, the Netherlands will send invitations to children aged 5 to 11 who have medical risks. For example, they have severe asthma or congenital heart defects. Then, it will be the turn of the non-vulnerable children in the second half of January.
In neighbouring Germany, children could already go for a corona jab in some places on Tuesday. This is possible from Wednesday or Thursday in other parts of the country. Vaccination committee STIKO has only recommended vaccinating children with medical risks, but injection can also be requested for healthy children. There are plans to administer it in museums and zoos and to send mobile vaccination teams to schools.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) ruled last month that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is safe and effective for young children. They are given a much smaller dose than adults. Outside of Europe, the United States has already vaccinated some 5 million children aged 5 to 11 years. That was the first major country to decide on a vaccination campaign for that group.