In response to questions from parents about the vaccination of their children, aged 5-11, the emeritus professor of Pediatrics and chairwoman of the National Vaccination Committee, Maria Theodoridou, and the professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Vana Papaevangelou, answered in an informative online event.
The teachers explained that “vaccines are safe and are made primarily to protect children, but also to reduce the spread of coronavirus.” They described winter as the worst time for the virus to spread, so parents “should not delay their children’s immunization”.
The vaccine available for children under 12 years of age is a new vaccine, specially adapted for children, which contains 1/3 of the amount available in the adult vaccine. They are made based on the age and immune maturity and not the height and weight of a child.
So far, more than two million children aged 5-11 have received both doses, while 11 million have been vaccinated with the first dose worldwide. “Today we know the full range of side effects. “It is more common for the child to be headless, anorexic, to have pain at the injection site, a little fever.” At the age of 5-11 no myocarditis has been recorded as a side effect, the teachers noted.
Messrs. Theodoridou and Papaevangelou clarified that “there are no contraindications for a child to have allergies, to be treated with hormonal drugs, to have epilepsy, thrombophilia, heart disease and other diseases”. The exception is chronic myocarditis.
“The vaccine offers wider protection against the disease, which is why vaccination is recommended for children who have already become ill,” the teachers said.
The Minister of Education, Niki Kerameos, stressed that for the ministry, “information with scientific data is a condition and priority” and for this reason the event was organized.
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