Europe on Wednesday extended the vaccination of children aged five to 11 against Covid-19, as the EU health agency warned that vaccination alone would not prevent the rapid spread of the Omicron version of the virus.
Croatia, Germany, Greece, Hungary and Spain were among those to open their vaccination campaigns for young children, with other nations still weighing their approach.
At the Hospital Principe de Asturias in Alcalá de Henares near Madrid, nurses wearing Christmas antler headbands welcomed children and gave them stickers after their shots.
“It only hurt a little bit,” 11-year-old Magdalena Lazzo Vittoria said as she left the vaccination center, with a plaster on her left shoulder.
“I didn’t panic because I’ve wanted to get vaccinated for a long time, so I’m really happy.”
The push was given fresh urgency by the rapid spread of the heavily mutated Omicron variant, which EU chief Ursula von der Leyen warned could be dominant in Europe by mid-January.
Even as children line up to get jabs, the EU health agency ECDC said the time available to wear masks, work distances and reduce the burden on health care systems will help reduce crowding. While measures like prevention were necessary, vaccines alone take too long.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said he hoped his country, which already has one of Europe’s highest COVID-19 vaccination rates, with its vaccination campaign for five to 11-year-olds “will be an example to the world”. ” Will become.
There are about 3.3 million children in that age group in the country.
low dose
Doctors across Europe reported strong initial demand from parents.
“As soon as we offered vaccine appointments, they pretty much broke down,” said Jakob Muske, a Berlin-based doctor and spokesman for Pediatricians in Germany.
Germany’s STIKO Vaccine Commission officially recommends the jab only for children with pre-existing conditions, but healthy children will also be vaccinated if parents request.
Some German cities are planning to put jabs for children in museums and zoos, while others are considering mobile vaccination teams outside schools.
But like other countries, Germany is battling an anti-vaccine militancy and on Wednesday police raided the eastern city of Dresden over death threats against the pro-vaccine chief of Saxony state, Michael Kreischmer.
While serious illness and death from COVID in children is rare, infected people can pass the virus on to others at high risk of serious illness, such as the elderly.
The European Union’s medicines watchdog last month approved the Pfizer-BioNTech shot for children aged five to 11 years, an age group experiencing high coronavirus infection rates across the continent.
The vaccine is administered in a lower dosage than the Pfizer jab for ages 12 and over, and comes in a pediatric vial with an orange cap to distinguish it from purple-cap vials for older people.
strict restrictions
Denmark, which has seen a surge in cases attributed to the new Omicron version, and some Austrian regions began offering jabs to young children in November.
The United States was the first major country to take advantage of this and has so far immunized over 5 million children aged 5-11.
The campaign to vaccinate children comes with the tightening of virus restrictions in several European countries, with Poland limiting the number of people allowed in restaurants, hotels and theatres.
Italy will tighten restrictions on arrivals from the rest of the European Union from Thursday, requiring coronavirus testing for all travellers, while Greece announced a similar measure to come into force from Sunday.
Several European countries will launch vaccination campaigns for children in the coming days, including Italy, Portugal, Poland, the Baltic states and the Czech Republic, while others are still finalizing their plans.
In France, vaccination has been approved for only children aged five to 11 at risk of developing serious illness, but the government has said it is looking at expanding it to all children on a voluntary basis.
Belgium is awaiting a recommendation from its national health body, with a rollout likely around the new year.
With a decision likely before Christmas, British regulators are still assessing whether to approve Jobs for the 5-11 age group.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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