Australia To Rollout COVID-19 Vaccines For 5 TO 11-Year-Olds

COVID-19 vaccination program will be extended to all children aged 5 to 11 years from 10 January 2022.

Vaccination experts on ATAGI have recommended the Comirnaty (Pfizer) vaccine be made available to all children aged 5 to 11 years to help prevent serious illness from COVID-19. The vaccine for this age group is one-third of the dosage given to people aged 12 years and over.

This is the second of four critical steps to be completed before January 10, with next steps including childhood specific vaccination training for healthcare providers and batch testing of doses by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).

ATAGI, after reviewing clinical data from Canada, recommended an eight-week interval between the two doses, which can be shortened to three weeks in special circumstances such as outbreak settings.

Clinical trials have shown the vaccine to be more than 90 per cent effective at preventing laboratory-confirmed symptomatic COVID-19 from seven days after a person has had their second dose. The vaccine was demonstrated to be well tolerated, with most adverse effects being mild and transient.

Whilst most children who get COVID will have mild or no symptoms, some children will experience severe disease and can be sick for months from COVID related complications.

The TGA and ATAGI are also assessing the Moderna vaccine for children 6-11 years of age with advice expected over the coming weeks