UK gives one dose of Pfizer / BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for 16-17 year olds

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The NHS is being asked to prepare children aged 16 to 17 to be vaccinated “as soon as possible,” Health Minister Sajid Javid said Wednesday.

Joint Committee on Immunization and Immunity (JCVI) recommendation We provide a single dose of Pfizer / BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to all people of all ages.

According to official data in early July, about 40 percent of UK students had antibodies. A single dose of Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine “should act as a” booster “of immunity,” the UK Public Health Service said.

JCVI said it would update its recommendations approximately 12 weeks after the first dose and before the second dose is scheduled.

The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine is currently the only CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus vaccine approved for use in children over the age of 12.

JCVI has previously recommended providing two doses of vaccine to children over the age of 12 who are at high risk of developing severe symptoms of COVID-19 and who live with immunosuppressed individuals.

and statement Announced Wednesday, JCVI said it is considering the potential benefits of “continuing” the Pfizer / BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.[s] Outweighs the potential harm to adults. “

But for healthy children, “the accuracy of the balance between harm and benefit is uncertain given the impact on children and adolescents themselves,” JCVI said, and older children will benefit from vaccination. He added that it is likely. Young children.

JCVI said on July 19 that “the minimum health benefits of providing a universal COVID-19 vaccine to children do not outweigh the potential risks”, but new. Continue to review the data.

The UK’s Chief Medical Officer called for accelerating planned reviews “in light of advances in the provision of COVID-19 vaccines to all adults and recent changes in the epidemiology of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom.” Said Wednesday.

JCVI’s advice is based on the main focus that decisions should benefit children and adolescents themselves, rather than indirectly benefiting others, and the British public has the potential for vaccine safety. He said he understands that he values ​​more than his interests.

Considering the safety of the vaccine, JCVI said that the side effects after vaccination in the 12-17 year old group are generally mild, self-limiting, short-lived and usually last for 1-2 days.

Report of myocarditis [inflammation of the heart muscle] And pericarditis [inflammation of the membrane around the heart] JCVI cites US official data on adults after vaccination with Pfizer / BioNTech or Moderna, and these reactions are very rare, occur more frequently immediately after the second vaccination, and most people immediately It suggests that it is a “mild phenotype” that recovers to. The cause of these side effects is currently unknown, and medium- to long-term safety data for the vaccine are currently unavailable.

According to official data, less than 30 children died from COVID-19 in the UK as of March this year, which is equivalent to a mortality rate of 2 per million.

According to JCVI, current clinical data suggest that Pfizer / BioNTech is 100% efficient against COVID-19, but the trial is too small for severe COVID-19 aged 12 to 15 years. The effectiveness could not be evaluated.

Between March and July 2020, of the 449 cases of pediatric inflammatory polyline syndrome after COVID-19 infection, 44% were in the intensive care unit and 1.1% died. JCVI said the epidemiology and root cause of this syndrome is largely unknown and there are no actual estimates of vaccine efficacy.

JCVI also took into account “the impact of COVID-19 on mental health and education for children and adolescents.” This is primarily caused by government interventions to control the spread of the virus.

“It is difficult to quantify to some extent that vaccination may reduce the mental health and educational impact of COVID-19 on children and adolescents,” said JCVI.

Two models of how vaccination of children and adolescents can affect hospitalization and death in the elderly have also been considered, but JCVI said that such benefits were “extremely uncertain.” I concluded that.

JCVI also considered the potential disruption that school-based vaccination programs could bring to education, but no alternative treatment or prevention for COVID-19 was mentioned in the statement.

Lily Zhou

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