Tens of millions of children in this age group will be eligible for the shot in the EU. The EU joins a growing number of countries, including the United States, Canada, Israel, China and Saudi Arabia, which have cleared vaccines for children in the 5-11 year age group and younger. Norway was considering limiting its use to kids with serious underlying conditions, such as cancer and transplant patients, Geir Bukholm, infection control director of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH), told Reuters. In France, where the number of infections is doubling every 11 days, Health Minister Olivier Veran said he would ask health regulators to examine whether 5- to 11-year-olds should be able to be given the vaccine. Portugal's President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa welcomed the "good news", noting the rising number of infections among unvaccinated children. "Today's recommendation (.) is clear the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine is safe and effective for young children, and can offer them additional protection," EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides said on Twitter.ĮU countries, including Austria, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic are now preparing nationwide inoculation programmes for younger children, although the first of the low-dose paediatric shots will not be delivered until Dec. While final approval is up to the European Commission, it typically follows EMA recommendations and an EU source told Reuters that a decision would likely come on Friday. "The benefits of Comirnaty in children aged 5 to 11 outweigh the risks, particularly in those with conditions that increase the risk of severe COVID-19," the EMA said. Pfizer and BioNTech have said their vaccine, which is called Comirnaty, showed 90.7% efficacy against the coronavirus in a clinical trial of children aged 5 to 11. ![]() In Germany and the Netherlands, kids now account for the majority of cases. ![]() Inoculating children and young people, who can unwittingly transmit COVID-19 to others, is considered a critical step towards taming the pandemic. ![]() The approval comes as Europe is again the epicentre of the pandemic again, accounting for about half of cases and deaths. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended that Pfizer-BioNTech's (PFE.N) (22UAy.DE) vaccine, approved for European Union use in teenagers between 12 and 17 years old since May, be given as an injection in the upper arm in two 10 microgram doses, three weeks apart. Nov 25 (Reuters) - The EU's drug regulator approved the use of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine for children between the ages of five and 11 on Thursday, paving the way for them to be given a first shot as Europe struggles with a surge in cases.
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