No COVID-19 vaccination for children yet until its safety is proved: WHO expert

Hanoi (VNA) – Available evidence suggests that children are less at risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19 infection compared with other groups. However, it is necessary to teach children basic preventive measures including keeping a safe distance, avoiding mass gatherings, wearing masks properly, and regularly washing their hands, a World Health Organisation expert has said.

Annie Chu, WHO Universal Health Coverage Group Coordinator in Vietnam, made the remarks at a teleconference to evaluate and implement a number of measures to care for children during the COVID-19 pandemic held by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs on September 8.

Special attention should be paid to children because they still depend on parents and adults both in terms of education and health care, she said, adding that any health-related incident in childhood can have serious effects throughout a child's life.

According to WHO, data shows that children under the age of 18 account for about 8.5 percent of all recorded cases.

Many children with COVID-19 have mild symptoms and a relatively low mortality rate compared to other age groups. The risk of developing severe illness and complications from COVID-19 for children are not high, even among those with underlying medical conditions.

COVID-19 is more dangerous and severe in older people. As a result, a COVID-19 vaccine was developed, tested, and approved for emergency use first in the adult population. Currently, vaccines for children are being researched, said Annie Chu.

According to the WHO Coordinator, the COVID-19 vaccine is tested in adults first. Only after the safety in adults was approved, could evaluation begin on children because they are still growing.

She said that in July, the WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group on Experts (SAGE) for immunisation concluded that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is suitable for use in children aged 12 and older.

However, WHO recommended that countries should consider the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children aged between 12 and 15 years old after achieving high vaccination coverage with two doses for priority groups as mentioned in the WHO’s roadmap for prioritising the use of COVID-19 vaccines.

While the vaccine supply is limited, WHO suggests giving priority to high-risk people including the elderly, people who have comorbidities and health workers.

Children aged between 12 and 15 with underlying health conditions that put them at greater risk of developing the severe illness should also be included.

Currently, we do not have data on the efficacy or safety of vaccines for children under 12. Therefore, children under 12 years of age should not be vaccinated until it is available, Chu said.

The WHO expert in Vietnam said that vaccine trials for children continue to be implemented and WHO will give recommendations when there is sufficient evidence.

Statistic from the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs revealed that as of September 1, the country had over 11,800 children who are F0 cases (COVID-19 patients) and about 28,200 child F1 cases (close contacts of F0 cases).

Ho Chi Minh City is the locality with the highest number of F0 and F1 cases, with more than 3,000 F0 children being treated as of September 8. In Hanoi, about five percent of COVID-19 cases are children aged 0-5. This rate is rather high compared to previous waves of the pandemic.

According to estimates from the HCM City Department of Education and Training, in HCM City alone, 1,517 children at all levels of education have been orphaned by COVID-19 in the past few months. This number is much higher when considering all the children not included in the education system, and in other provinces and cities of the country./.