Safety of COVID-19 Vaccination in Children Aged 3–11: CDC Expert Says Adverse Reactions Comparable to Adults
Pfizer
Pharmaceutical R&D Developer
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is an agency under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, with its headquarters located in Atlanta, Georgia. As a federal government administrative agency, the CDC provides reliable information to protect public health and safety. Through strong partnerships with national health departments and other organizations, it aims to enhance health-related decision-making and promote the well-being of citizens.
BEIJING, Nov. 6 (People's Daily Online) -- (Reporter Zhang Wenting) Currently, in accordance with the overall national deployment, vaccination programs for children aged 3 to 11 have been launched across various regions. Many parents are highly concerned about issues related to COVID-19 vaccination for children. Today, at a press conference held by the State Council Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism, Wang Huaqing, Chief Expert of the Immunization Program at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC), provided detailed explanations regarding the necessity of vaccinating children, as well as the efficacy and safety of the vaccines.
Wang Huaqing stated that there are several considerations for vaccinating children against COVID-19: first, the infection rate among children is not low. With the global pandemic, particularly the sustained transmission in some countries, the infection rate among children continues to rise.
Second, severe or fatal cases among children continue to occur. "Previously, it was believed that children generally experienced milder disease, but with ongoing transmission, the infection rate among children has risen. Studies abroad have already found that the current hospitalization rate for children exceeds 10 times that of early this year," he said.
Third, it is extremely difficult to manage children as sources of infection following viral infection. Wang Huaqing stated that children are in close contact with others in kindergartens, nurseries, schools, and other institutions. Should cases emerge, this could also lead to clustered outbreaks.
“We have always hoped to achieve herd immunity through vaccination. To achieve herd immunity, for diseases to which all populations are susceptible, children are also part of the population that needs to be immunized,” Wang Huaqing said.
Regarding the efficacy and safety of the COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 3 to 11, Wang Huaqing also provided a detailed explanation. He noted that the inactivated vaccine currently used in China has been shown to elicit a relatively high level of immune response in earlier clinical trials. According to previous clinical trial studies, the incidence of adverse reactions among children receiving the currently approved inactivated vaccine is comparable to that observed in the adult group.