Israel has so far vaccinated about 600 children between the ages of 12 and 16 in the risk group against the coronavirus with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and has not seen any significant side effects from the shot, a health official said on Wednesday. said an interview.
“We have vaccinated about 600 children somewhere so far,” said Dr. Boaz Lev, a top member of the Ministry of Health’s cabinet advisory team, told the Guardian. ‘We have not seen any major side effects; even minors are quite rare. It’s encouraging. ”
Lev also said the ministry should launch a PR campaign on vaccination safety if immunization for children is approved. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said children would soon start receiving vaccines, but did not set a timeline.
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“At this point, it’s very difficult to see what’s going to happen in this regard,” Lev said.
Dr. Boaz Lev during a discussion at the Knesset on 25 May 2010 (Abir Sultan / Flash 90)
Pfizer recently enrolled more than 2,000 children between the ages of 12 and 15 for clinical trials and hopes to get results within a few months. The drug manufacturer is expected to apply for emergency permission from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for that age group in the first half of this year.
The vaccine currently has emergency consent for use in people 16 years and older.
The Israeli children approved for vaccination by medical authorities, according to a report last month, have known risk factors, including obesity, diabetes, severe lung and heart disease, immunosuppressive disorders and cancer.
The Ministry of Health has recommended that some teenagers aged 12-15 be vaccinated against COVID-19 if they suffer from specific underlying conditions. The report did not say whether all the children vaccinated in Israel were older than 12.
Infection among children and the reopening of the school were a major source of concern during the outbreak of Israel in the third wave. Children represent a greater percentage of infections than earlier in the pandemic, possibly due to new virus variants and the fact that a significant percentage of adults have been vaccinated.
Israeli students wearing face masks when they return to school in Aseret, 11 February 2021. (Flash90)
Moderna has also started trials for children aged 12 and older, but says it is unlikely to have information on younger children until 2022. The University of Oxford has announced a trial to test the AstraZeneca-produced COVID-19 vaccine on children as young as 6 years old.
As of Wednesday, more than 5 million Israelis had received one dose of coronavirus vaccine and more than 3.9 million had both been shot. Netanyahu predicted on Monday that by the end of April, the entire population of more than 16 years would be vaccinated. Israel’s total population is about 9.3 million.
