The approval of the vaccine against Covid for children between 5 and 11 years by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) “could be anticipated between today and tomorrow” he says. Giorgio Palù, president of the Italian Medicines Agency (Aifa). The decision was initially expected on Monday 29 November. If the news were confirmed, Palù said in an interview with SyTg24, “it would be very likely to have the green light in Italy next Monday”. After approval by the EMA, Aifa is also required, which generally follows a few days.
Questions & Answers: Why is it necessary to vaccinate children
by Elena Dusi
“For children – explains Palù – the picture is changing and the risk of infection is becoming much higher than the risk of the vaccine. If in the past, with the Alpha variant, 2% of children contracted the infection, today we are reaching the 25-30 percent. The epidemic data are telling us that the 4 to 11 year old category has the most cases. There are hospitalized children who do not have concomitant diseases, there are children who develop a syndrome multisystem inflammatory, that is, widespread in various organs “.
The president of Aifa does not rule out the vaccination obligation for children between 5 and 11 years old, even if a similar hypothesis is not currently on the government table and would be very divisive. “For the vaccination obligation, the risks and benefits must be carefully weighed, but I remember that a third of hospitalized children have no concomitant pathologies and that validation studies have not shown any risk for vaccines“.
The vials for children – the authorization should be for Pfizer at the moment – are different than those for adults and are still in production. They are distinguished by the cap and the orange label. The distribution should take place simultaneously in all European countries and forecasts at the moment speak of the days immediately preceding Christmas. Nor has it been established to date whether the administrations will take place in hubs – which in recent months have been reduced in number – or in pediatricians’ offices. In short, the authorization from AIFA and EMA would not result in the immediate departure of the vaccination campaign, which could actually take place immediately after Christmas.
The director of Aifa Magrini: “The Green Pass already makes us safe, we won’t need the obligation”
by Elena Dusi
Palù also spoke of the current wave in Italy. “Looking at the numbers, there is a growth in contagion, which however is not exponential as last year, but linear. Some Regions are exceeding the critical threshold of hospitalizations in the medical and resuscitation area, which is why we must look with great attention to the evolution of the pandemic “.
The ECDC alarm: “Peak in December, third dose for all over 18”
“The recent scenarios developed by the ECDC” the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control “indicate that the potential pathological burden in the EU from the Delta variant will be very high in December and January, unless measures are now applied. public health in combination with continued efforts to increase vaccine delivery in the general population. ” He stated it Andrea Ammon, director of the ECDC, in the presentation of the new report on the trend of Covid in Europe.
“Since the beginning of the year, we have seen a rapid start of vaccination programs in the EU that have successfully averted deaths and reduced hospitalizations and transmission of the virus.. But there are still categories and age groups in which vaccination coverage remains lower than desired, even in countries that have achieved good overall vaccination coverage “, the expert stressed.” We must urgently concentrate – the director specified – on how to bridge this immune gap, offer booster doses to all adults and reintroduce non-pharmaceutical measures. “
“Countries of the European Union” should consider a booster dose for all adults aged 18 and over, with priority for people over the age of 40 “and” the booster dose is recommended not earlier than six months after completing the primary vaccination “. The third dose will serve “to increase protection against infections due to decreased immunity”.
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