Countries around the world are rolling out their vaccination campaigns for children while others are looking to see how the United States handles its own vaccination efforts.
The European Union has said it will look into the use of the Pfizer vaccine for kids 5 to 11 years old, but right now only allows kids over 12 years old to get the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. Many countries have only rolled out the vaccine for children 12 years old and up, including the U.K. which said kids 12 to 15 years old should get one dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
As reported by The New York Times:
E.U. regulators have not yet authorized any Covid vaccine for children below age 12. Austria, along with the rest of the European Union, is waiting for a decision by the European Medicines Agency, which started the process of approving the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine for ages 5 to 11 on Oct. 18. A decision is expected in the coming months.
Some countries have started to provide vaccination to children even younger than 12 years old. Chile reportedly approved vaccinating six year-olds, whereas the United Arab Emirates said in August it would begin its vaccine campaign for kids ages 3 to 17. China has approved vaccination for kids ages 3 to 17 for emergency use.
As reported last week by The Wall Street Journal, “In Colombia and Argentina, children as young as 3 are also being immunized with Chinese vaccines. Both countries have used Chinese and other vaccines to combat the disease.”
The Journal noted:
Australia and New Zealand have also held back approval for younger children. Australia’s chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, said Tuesday that Australia would await the real-world experience of the U.S. before committing to vaccinating younger children. The clinical trials for that age group in the U.S. were, “I must say, rather small,” he said.
Japan has authorized shots for ages 12 and above, and more than 60% of 12-to-19-year-olds are fully vaccinated, according to government figures. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said vaccination of children 5 to 11 would begin after regulators review Pfizer’s application for that age group, filed earlier that day.
As reported by The Daily Wire earlier this month, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 years old.
“The endorsement, by CDC Director Rochelle Walensky on Tuesday, was the last step before doctors, nurses and pharmacists could start giving the shots,” The Wall Street Journal reported.
Walensky has previously said she thinks kids should keep wearing face coverings in school even after they’ve received a COVID-19 vaccination.
Earlier in the day, a panel of advisers for the CDC also gave its endorsement of the vaccine for kids in that age bracket.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use in children ages 5-11 years before the CDC gave its official recommendation.