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Vaccinations for all: including 5-11 year-olds
Vaccinations for all: including 5-11 year-olds
As of yesterday, Malta has started vaccinating children aged between five and 11, announced health minister Chris Fearne.
The minister said that the consignment of vaccines allocated for this age group arrived on Sunday and the inoculation programme therefore began yesterday, on Monday.
Has the vaccine been authorised for children?
Yes. The European Medicines Agency has authorised the use of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine among children aged between five and 11, back in November. The vaccine, which is known by its trade name as Comirnaty, will be given in the form of two injections three weeks apart, but at a lower dose.
With regards to the Pfizer vaccine, it too has already been authorised for use in people aged 12 and above. It has also been a mainstay of the country’s vaccination programme.
According to the EMA, the most common side effects in children aged five to 11 are similar to those in people aged 12 and above.
