No decision on vaccinating children

06 Aug 2021

No decision on vaccinating children

06 Aug 2021

By Buddhika Samaraweera The Health Ministry is still undecided on the commencement of vaccinating schoolchildren and a final decision in that regard will be taken after the next meeting of the Advisory Committee on Communicable Diseases (ACCD), according to Family Health Bureau Maternal and Child Health Services Director Dr. Chithramalee De Silva. Advisor to the President Lalith Weeratunga, on 29 July, said that the Government is currently looking into vaccinating schoolchildren between the ages of 12 and 18 years against Covid-19. The Germany and US-manufactured Pfizer-BioNTech and US-made Moderna Covid- 19 vaccines are currently considered for this purpose, Weeratunga said. Adding that the first target of the Government is to vaccinate 11.5 million people in the country, he said that the second target is to vaccinate all between the ages of 12 and 30 years. However, when contacted by The Morning, Dr. De Silva said that no final decision has been taken regarding the administration of Covid-19 vaccines to schoolchildren. “It is currently being studied. However, a final decision will be taken at the ACCD after discussions,” she added. Speaking further, she added: “We will not be able to make a decision at the ACCD on vaccinating schoolchildren until this is discussed and decided at the ACCD. This will definitely be discussed at a meeting in the coming days." When queried as to whether there is a particular date on which the said meeting would be held, she said that the date of the meeting would be decided based on the availability of the ACCD’s Director General. Dr. De Silva earlier told The Morning that the Health Ministry was studying the possibility of administering Covid-19 vaccines to children, taking into account the requests made by a number of parties, including paediatricians. Adding that steps have been taken to vaccinate children in several countries including in the US, she noted that studies on child vaccination were being carried out in view of the data published in those countries. “We must move forward based on the available evidence and data. The cost that will have to be borne and its cost effectiveness should also be studied,” she further noted. Meanwhile, Consultant in Clinical Immunology and Allergy attached to the Immunity and Transplantation Institute, the Royal Free Hospital, and the University College, London, UK, and the Consultant Speciality Lead of Immunology at the Health Services Laboratories Prof. Suranjith Seneviratne, when contacted by The Morning, said that children infected with Covid-19 are less likely to have serious complications, but that it is important to administer Covid-19 vaccines to children as they can transmit the virus to adults. Older children transmit the virus faster than younger children while young children are more likely to become infected with the virus, he further noted. Speaking further, Prof. Seneviratne added that Covid-19 vaccines need to undergo appropriate clinical trials in children and then be authorised and approved for use by global regulatory bodies such as the World Health Organisation (WHO), the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHPRA), and then by local authorities.

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No decision on vaccinating children

No decision on vaccinating children

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