(Pic: Peter Ilicciev/Fiocruz Imagens)On January 18th, 2021, the Ministry of Health (MS) officially launched the Covid-19 vaccination campaign in Brazil. Even though the vaccine is not available for the entire population yet, we begin to hope that the chaos experienced by the country (over 210,000 people have already lost their lives to the disease) will come to an end. Within this context, many doubts and questions lead to speculations, especially the fact that we do not know when children and teenagers will receive the long-awaited immunization.
In order to answer to some questions that have caused many parents to become uncertain and anxious, Alessandra Marins Pala and Marcio Nehab, pediatricians and infectologists of the National Institute of Women, Children and Adolescents Health Fernandes Figueira (IFF/Fiocruz) were invited to talk about this subject.
Why will children not be vaccinated against Covid-19 in this moment?
Alessandra: The vaccines already released in Brazil were tested in individuals over 18 years of age, and we can only vaccinate the groups for which the vaccines were tested. Children, teenagers and pregnant women will have to wait until specific studies are carried out. The tests for these groups are required to define the correct dosing, as well as the vaccine safety and effectiveness in these different groups.
In a scenario of vaccine scarcity, the priority is to vaccinate the most vulnerable ones. What about children with chronic diseases? When will they be immunized?
Marcio: The children with chronic diseases follow the same criteria. The vaccine can only be given to them after the studies are proven effective. Therefore, the social distancing measures prevail, in addition to the proper hygienization of hands and use of masks.
Before the immunization of children, will they also be subject to tests? How will this process take place?
Alessandra: Studies with the pediatric age group are required so that the vaccine is released to this population. The study by Pfizer-BioNTech, for instance, tested people from 16 years old upwards, and has already started the tests with adolescents from 12 to 15 years old. Moderna, in turn, is recruiting individuals from 12 to 17 years old. Other studies, however, are still in the methodology organization phase. After the results of this pieces of research, the regulatory agencies will need to release the use of immunizers in these age ranges. Another limiting factor will be the availability of the vaccines for these groups.
When we get to the so-called herd vaccination in adults, will children be safe, even though they are not immunized yet?
Marcio: With respect to herd vaccination, it is not possible to foresee the number of vaccinated people required for the pandemic to slow down. Obviously, the greater the number of people immunized, the highest is the level of protection expected. Nevertheless, no study has proved this hypothesis so far. The decrease in the transmission rate is associated with the social distancing, the hygiene of hands, and the proper use of face masks. For now, the vaccines serve to protect against the severe forms of the disease, and to prevent deaths, hospitalizations in Intensive Care Units (ICU), and tracheal intubations.
Source: IFF/Fiocruz portal.
