WHO recommends administering Pzifer dose for 5-11 yrs old, with reduced dose

During a press briefing on Friday, World Health Organisation called on the countries to prioritise vaccinating the vulnerable population with booster shots. WHO officials also recommended administering the Pzifer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children between the age group of 5 to 11 years old.

This recommendation by the international health agency comes after Wednesday’s meeting of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE), where a discussion was held on the matter and evaluating the COVID-19 vaccine.

WHO advised the countries to inoculate the children of 5 years with the reduced dose of the Pzifer vaccine, which is ten micrograms instead of 30 micrograms.

SAGE chairman Alejandro Cravioto asserted, “This age group that is five to eleven years old is in the lowest priority use group for vaccination except, for children who have co-morbidities,” adding that, “Increase in booster dose coverage for the high-risk priority groups will usually yield a more significant reduction in severe disease and deaths than the use of the equivalent vaccine to boost primary vaccination coverage”.

The UN Health Agency furthermore noted that the vaccine supply had witnessed an increase globally. Meanwhile, a few of the countries such as – the United States, European Union, and Canada are already administering the dose of Pzifer vaccine for the age group.

Clearing the doubts of parents regarding the vaccine, WHO’s vaccine director, Kate O’Brien, notified that the clinical trials went good and not a single safety concern was raised to employ the dose for the specific age group.

Most of the countries in the world are currently starting to administer the WHO-approved COVID-19 vaccine for children who fall under the age group of 11 to 18 years, while the Caribbean island Cuba becoming the first one to immunise toddlers with the home-grown COVID-19 vaccines.

Besides this, the UN health agency asked persons to stay safe and to follow the COVID-19 health protocols, such as -wearing masks, maintaining a suggested physical distance and sanitizing frequently.