Australia aims to vaccinate children under 12 against COVID-19 from January

Melbourne, November 14 / BNA / Officials said, on Sunday, that Australia, which has quickly become one of the most vaccinated countries against the emerging corona virus, will likely start giving vaccines to children under 12 years of age in January.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said medical regulators were still reviewing health and safety data for the vaccinations to be given to children aged 5 to 11 and were unlikely to make a decision this year.

“The forecast they have set is the first part of January, hopefully early January,” Hunt told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Insiders programme. “But they are going as fast as they can,” according to Reuters.

This month, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE for broad use in the 5- to 11-year-old, having been authorized by the Food and Drug Administration.

Lieutenant General John Frewin, commander of Australia’s COVID-19 task force, told The Age that Australia had secured the necessary supplies. “We’ve already bought enough supplies for the kids’ doses and boosters,” Froen said.

On Friday, Australia crossed the single-dose mark of 90% for those 16 and over, with 83% having two shots. The country has also vaccinated 57.7% of children aged 12 to 15, according to Health Ministry data.

Australia’s high vaccination rates were key to its decision to partially reopen international borders this month for the first time since the start of the pandemic, despite delta-variable outbreaks in its most populous states, New South Wales and Victoria.

On Sunday, 1,100 infections were reported in the two states, which are home to about 60% of the country’s population. Five more people died.

However, despite the outbreak in the Delta region that has led to months of lockdown in the two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, the national tally of just 191,000 infections and 1,596 deaths is far lower than many other developed nations.

Neighboring New Zealand, which is also learning to live with the coronavirus through high vaccination rates, recorded 207 new cases and one death, bringing the total number of confirmed cases since the start of the epidemic to 8,331 infections and 34 deaths.

HF