Learn the difference between Covid vaccine for children and adults

In addition to the crybaby and band-aid of some cartoon character, vaccination for children against Covid-19 has technical differences, compared to the immunization that covers adolescents and adults in Brazil.

On the last 16th, Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) approved the use of Pfizer’s vaccine in children aged 5 to 11 years.

In October, the Ministry of Health estimated that 70 million doses are needed to immunize children in the country.

For now, only Pfizer’s product is allowed to be used in children and teenagers in the country. This month, the Butantan Institute requested a guarantee to apply Coronavac to the population aged 3 to 17 and is awaiting a response from the agency.

Although President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) criticizes Anvisa’s decision in relation to Pfizer’s product and threatens to expose the name of the agency’s technicians who authorized its use in children, studies show that the immunizing agent is safe.

Pfizer presented results of work carried out with approximately 4,000 children that show an efficacy of 90% of the immunizing agent when applied to this group.

The differences between vaccines for children and those applied to adults start with the color of the caps — for little ones it is orange, whereas for those over 12 years it is purple. The measure aims to facilitate identification by the vaccination teams and also by those responsible who will accompany the little ones in health posts.

Another point is the dosage. While over 12 years old receive doses of 0.3 ml from Pfizer, younger ones will be immunized with a lower dose of 0.2 ml. For other products approved for adults, such as Coronavac and AstraZeneca, the dose is 0.5 ml.

The interval between the first and second dose of the Pfizer product for children is 21 days, the same as for teenagers.

In adults, according to Anvisa, the period is 2 to 4 weeks with Coronavac and 4 to 12 weeks with AstraZeneca. With regard to Janssen, the second dose should be applied two months after the first.

Storage time also changes. While for the older ones, the immunizing agent can be kept in the refrigerator between 2ºC and 8ºC for just one month, for the little ones it is allowed for up to ten weeks.

In addition, the vial of the vaccine for children holds ten doses, more than for those over 12 years old, whose vial holds six doses.

There are also other recommendations regarding vaccination for children aged five years and over. The room, for example, should be exclusive for the application of the Covid vaccine, and should not be used for the application of other vaccines, even pediatric ones.

As a precaution, Anvisa also advised that the Pfizer vaccine should not be administered concomitantly with others, even if on the children’s calendar.

Another orientation of the agency is not to use the drive-thru model in immunizing this public and that children remain at the vaccination sites for approximately 20 minutes after being immunized to monitor any adverse reaction.

Vaccination for children still does not have a date to start in Brazil. According to Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga, the ministry only decides on the topic on January 5th. Immunization against Covid for children has already started in other countries.

In early November, the United States authorized the use of Pfizer’s vaccine in children as young as 5 years old. In the same month, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved the application of the Pfizer vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 years, an age group that registers an increase in infections on the continent.

On December 15th, several countries in Europe started their campaigns for this age group. China released the immunizing agent for children aged 3 years and over.