News item | 19-01-2023 | 5:05 PM
It is no longer necessary to offer healthy children aged 5 to 11 a corona vaccination. Minister Kuipers of VWS takes the advice of the Health Council about. It means that from February 23, 2023, only children with a increased risk to become seriously ill from the coronavirus are invited for vaccination. The Health Council has adjusted the advice for children due to the course of the pandemic, the protection that has been built up, the less pathogenic omikron variant that is currently dominant and new scientific knowledge about the corona virus. Nothing has changed in the safety of the vaccine.
Agreements that have already been made for the vaccination of healthy children aged 5 to 11 can continue, even if they are scheduled after February 23, 2023. Parents/carers are of course free to cancel the appointment. They will be informed about the changed advice.
Chance of MIS-C much smaller
The Health Council has found that healthy children hardly ever get sick from the corona virus now that the omikron variant is dominant. The corona vaccination for this group was mainly aimed at reducing the rare inflammatory disease MIS-C to prevent. It is now known that the risk of MIS-C due to the omikron variant is much smaller than with earlier variants of the virus. In addition, the number of children at risk of getting MIS-C has fallen sharply, because more than 90% of children have already been infected with the corona virus. This is because MIS-C almost only occurs after a first infection. Vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 years hardly prevents cases of MIS-C.
Vaccination can prevent hospitalization in high-risk groups
According to the Health Council, vaccination is still useful for children with an increased risk of becoming seriously ill due to the corona virus. It reduces the chance that they have to be admitted to hospital. This concerns, for example, children with a serious heart or lung disorder (other than asthma). The repeat vaccination is also of added value for them, according to the Health Council. The OMT-V endorses this advice. Children who have received the first 2 injections and fall into a risk group are therefore also invited for a repeat injection.
Child dose of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine
A child dose of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine is used for vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 years. For the basic series, this is a child dose of the original vaccine. The new vaccine is used for the repeat injection on the advice of the OMT-V.
Use of renewed vaccines as a basic series
In the advisory report, the Health Council also discusses the use of the updated vaccines as a basic series for everyone from the age of 5. The council does not express a preference in this regard. There is therefore no legal basis for using the updated vaccines as a basic series, also because there is no EMA registration. This applies to both children and adults. The Health Council will be asked for advice again when more data becomes available and/or when the EMA registers the updated vaccines as a basic series.
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