At least 13 countries already vaccinate children under 5 against Covid

At least 13 countries already vaccinate children under five against Covid-19. In places like Chile and Venezuela, immunization has been offered since the end of 2021 and, in recent weeks, the United States and Israel have approved the application of doses from six months of age.

In Brazil, the Collegiate Board of Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) should evaluate this Wednesday (13) afternoon the request of the Butantan Institute for emergency use of the Coronavac vaccine in children aged three to five years, submitted in March.

In Latin America, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela already immunize children under five years of age.

Argentina vaccinates children from three years of age and, according to the local Ministry of Health, on July 25 the country will receive 1.4 million doses to start immunizing children between six months and three years of age, and to offer boosters for those between three and four years. For those between 3 and 17 years old, the Sinopharm and Moderna vaccines are applied and children under three will receive doses of Moderna.

Chile, in turn, started vaccinating children between 3 and 5 years of age in December. Two doses of Coronavac are used. Ecuador follows a similar procedure: the country started vaccinating children from the age of three in February and applies two doses of Coronavac.

Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela immunize children from the age of two. The first uses its Abdala, Soberana 02 and Soberana Plus vaccines, while the others offer Soberana 2.

Other countries that already apply doses to the youngest are Bahrain, Cambodia and China. The three offer immunizations for children from three years old and use the Chinese vaccines Sinopharm or Coronavac.

“Every day that we are without the vaccine against Covid-19 for the age group from six months onwards, we are losing two children”, says Cristiano Boccolini, a researcher at Observa Infância, a project linked to the Institute for Communication and Scientific and Technological Information in Health (Icict/Fiocruz).

At the end of June, a survey carried out by him and colleagues pointed to the death of 1,439 Brazilians under five years of age as a result of Covid-19 throughout 2020 and 2021. “We need to include these children and increase coverage in the ranges that we are already vaccinating for try to stop the circulation of the virus”, says Patricia Boccolini, coordinator of Observa Infância.

Asked, Pfizer informed that it intends to ask Anvisa for authorization to use its vaccine in children from six months as soon as possible, but did not indicate a date. Zodiac, Moderna’s representative in the country, expects to deliver the application to use its immunizer in all age groups, including children aged six months to five years, in early August.

For infectious disease specialist Rosana Richtmann, the list of those who vaccinate young children points to the existence of two groups. One of them is formed by countries in Latin America and Asia that are using vaccines such as Coronavac, an inactivated virus.

On the other side are the United States and Europe, which use vaccines with mRNA (messenger RNA) technology such as those from Pfizer and Moderna.

“Vaccines with messenger RNA technology have a greater number of studies and greater foundation”, he says. For her, it is a matter of time and of the companies’ strategy for these immunizing agents to be approved by regulatory agencies. “Modern decided to wait to submit a single request to Anvisa for all age groups and bring an updated vaccine”, she exemplifies. In Europe, the use of the company’s immunizer from six months is already under analysis.

“In Brazil, we are interested in vaccinating the public under five years of age and there are expectations regarding Coronavac, but I am more anxious about messenger RNA for this age group”, says Richtmann.

Another reason for the small number of countries, argues infectious disease specialist Leonardo Weissmann, is the false impression that it is not necessary to vaccinate children, since Covid-19 would be less serious in this population. “However, protecting children under five years of age is urgent. The disease can develop into severe forms, hospitalizations and deaths as well as in adults”.