Although the majority of children have mild disease, there is still a strong possibility that they will develop severe disease and require hospitalization, as well as other serious complications of the disease
Her deep concern is expressed by Federation of Freelance Pediatricians of Greeceon the low rates of vaccination against Covid-19 among children, as well as on the official recommendations on pediatric vaccination against the disease COVID-19 in our country, which do not encourage vaccination of children.
Although the majority of children have mild disease, there is still a strong possibility that they will develop severe disease and require hospitalization, while they also develop other serious complications of the disease, such as multiorgan inflammatory syndrome MIS-C (more than 130 children in our country) and Long-COVID, notes the Omospindia and recalls the call of the International Union of Epidemiologists for universal vaccination of the pediatric population.
The Federation of Freelance Pediatricians of Greece believes that on an individual level the vaccination against Sars-Cov2 benefits children because:
1) Vaccinated children are less likely to get infected with Covid-19.
2) If infected they are less likely to be admitted to hospital, ICU, or much less likely to die, or develop MIS-C.
3) Vaccination offers protection against complications related to Covid-19 and may reduce the disproportionate health effects on children already incurred by prolonged control measures.
4) Even children who have had the disease benefit, as we now know that hybrid immunity (disease and vaccination) is superior to immunity provided by either disease or vaccine alone.
From a public health point of view, the more children are vaccinated, the less the virus will circulate and therefore the better the disease will be controlled, emphasizes the Federation of Independent Pediatricians of Greece.
About ages 5-11
The updated vaccine for these ages has recently been approved by the EMA. It is therefore important that children who have been vaccinated in the previous season, i.e. 6-12 months before, or it has been a long time since they were last sick, are protected with this vaccine. There is already vast experience of booster vaccination in these ages with millions of doses administered worldwide, with a very good safety profile and high efficacy. A recent study showed that a booster dose, even with the older vaccine, increased efficacy against infection with the Omicron variant to levels higher than those achieved after 2 doses, while there was no evidence of decreased efficacy, even 3 months after booster dose. “On the other hand, we believe that no one can deny parents who want to vaccinate their children with the updated vaccine, in order to protect them, this right”, notes the Federation of Independent Pediatricians of Greece.
About ages 6 months – 5 years
This age group, during the period of the Omicron variant, shows high rates of hospitalization. According to data presented at the two-day meeting of the Hellenic Society of Pediatric Infections in Thessaloniki, in our country until the end of November 2022, 7627 children had been hospitalized, of which 75 required admission to the ICU while 11 unfortunately ended up. These numbers are considerably higher than other infectious diseases for which the pediatric population is universally vaccinated, and we believe that since a safe and effective vaccine exists, children should have the right to be universally vaccinated and receive booster doses.
RES-EMP
Read the News today and get the latest news.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news.
I have worked in the news industry for over 10 years. I have a vast amount of experience in covering health news. I am also an author at News Bulletin 247. I am highly experienced and knowledgeable in this field. I am a hard worker and always deliver quality work. I am a reliable source of information and always provide accurate information.
