EXPLAINER | Here's why your teen should get the Covid-19 vaccine
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorised Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine for use in children as young as 12, widening the country’s inoculation programme as vaccination rates have slowed significantly.
The following information should help parents deciding whether to inoculate their adolescent children:
IS THE VACCINE SAFE FOR 12- to 15-YEAR-OLDS?
The FDA found the vaccine to be safe and effective in Pfizer's clinical trial. That trial included 2,260 participants in that age group, half of whom received the same vaccine dose given to adults. The other half got a placebo as a comparison group.
The safety profile for those 12 to 15 was found to be similar to 16- to 25-year-olds who have received the vaccine, the agency said.
The most commonly reported side effects — all of which were short-lived — were pain at the injection site, fatigue, headache, chills, muscle pain, fever and joint pain, it added.
More than two million 16- and 17-year-olds in the US have already received at least one dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
CHILDREN DON'T USUALLY GET VERY SICK, SO WHY GET THE SHOT?
Most children with Covid-19 only develop mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. However, children are not without risk of becoming seriously ill.
Pediatric medical experts point out that many children have been hospitalised and some have died.
Dr Lee Savio Beers, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, encourages parents to get the vaccine for their adolescents as soon as they are eligible.
Infected children, even those without symptoms, can still spread the virus to vulnerable people at home and elsewhere. There have been outbreaks traced to sporting events and other activities for children in this age range.
Inoculating as many people as possible is seen as essential to breaking the back of the pandemic.
ARE ANY OTHER COUNTRIES VACCINATING ADOLESCENTS?
Canada and Algeria have also authorised the Pfizer vaccine for this age group. Pfizer has said it has submitted the data needed for authorisation to other regulators around the world, including the European Medicines Agency.