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Vaccinating children delayed over pending data

06 Sep 2021

  • Possible side effects a major concern: Public Health DDG  
BY Buddhika Samaraweera The Health Ministry has stated that it will take some time to reach a final decision regarding the provision of Covid-19 vaccines to children, since further in-depth studies need to be carried out into the matter. Health Ministry Communications Director, Public Health Services Deputy Director General (DDG), and Disaster Preparedness and Response Division Head Dr. Hemantha Herath told The Morning yesterday (6) that although a number of institutions have so far called for children to be prioritised in vaccination against Covid-19, a final recommendation in this regard should be made by the Health Ministry’s Advisory Committee on Communicable Diseases (ACCD). “At present, studies are being conducted on a daily basis, but there are a number of important matters to consider here. Some countries have taken a risk and started vaccinating children against Covid-19. However, we are not able to take a final decision until we have enough data,” he added. Dr. Herath further outlined the factors to consider when making a final decision on whether to administer the Covid-19 vaccines to children. “There are several factors. For example, it is not possible to say how long a 60-year-old person will live, whether they are vaccinated or not. However, a 10 or 12-year-old child will live for a longer period. In case there is some side effect of these vaccines that may arise after 40 years, that 60-year-old person will not be there to experience it, but these children will be alive, and they may experience such side effects. So we should carry out in-depth studies into the matter, and only then can a final decision be made.” Speaking further, he noted that while vaccines are usually introduced after about five years of study, there was however no time to carry out such studies about the Covid-19 vaccines. “Other vaccines have been studied for about five years and then only were they approved. Therefore, we can’t force anyone to quickly approve the Covid-19 vaccines for children,” he elaborated. Advisor to the President Lalith Weeratunga, on 29 July 2021, said that the Government is currently looking into vaccinating schoolchildren between the ages of 12 and 18 years against Covid-19. The US and German-made Pfizer-BioNTech and the US-manufactured Moderna Covid-19 vaccines are currently considered for this purpose, Weeratunga noted. Meanwhile, Prof. Suranjith Seneviratne, who is attached to the Immunity and Transplantation Institute, the Royal Free Hospital, and the University College, London, England, recently told The Morning 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.  


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