Aussie researchers call for caution about vaccinating children for COVID-19

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, November 5, 2021
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SYDNEY, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- As Australian health authorities plan the next stages of the nation's COVID-19 vaccine rollout, researchers have called for caution regarding policies on giving children the jabs.

In a report published in Archives of Disease in Childhood, an international team of paediatric vaccine experts led by Australia's Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI), have warned that any decision to vaccinate children aged under 12 must judiciously weigh up the potential advantages and disadvantages.

MCRI and University of Melbourne Professor Nigel Curtis said the review did not argue either for or against vaccinating children, but rather it highlighted points to consider and the complexity of policy decisions.

He said that although vaccination of all ages may become the standard approach globally, it was important to scrutinize all the arguments thoroughly.

"Whether all children less than 12 years of age should be vaccinated against COVID-19 remains an open scientific question," Curtis said.

"Further data is needed to confirm that the benefits of the vaccine in preventing COVID-19 disease in children under 12 years of age outweigh any potential risks."

Aside from preventing the small minority of children who become severely sick from the disease, the key arguments for vaccinating healthy children were to protect them from consequences such as "long COVID" as well as helping reduce community transmission and preventing school closures.

The researchers suggested, however, that if COVID-19 remained a generally mild disease for this age group, then it may not be necessary to vaccinate all children aged under 12.

They said benefits of not giving them the jab would include the avoidance of rare vaccination side effects and it would free up vaccine supplies for more urgent cases worldwide.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has indicated that young children in Australia could be eligible for a vaccine shot by the end of this month, but long-term, real-world safety data would likely be required before approving vaccines for them. Enditem

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