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Updated January 10th, 2022 at 19:50 IST

COVID-19: Here's more on safety & inoculation of children aged between 5 to 11 years

As the world is battling the Omicron variant of COVID-19, some of the countries like the United States have started vaccinating children aged 5 to 11 yrs.

Reported by: Apoorva Kaul
COVID
Image: AP/Representative | Image:self
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As the world is battling the Omicron variant of COVID-19, some of the countries like the United States have started vaccinating children aged between 5 to 11 years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has now advised the COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 and above. The CDC has recommended that children aged between 5 to 11 years must receive an age-appropriate dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Australian government has also announced roll out of Pfizer vaccine of COVID-19 vaccine to children aged between 5 to 11 years after Therapeutic Goods Administration's approval. 

COVID-19 vaccines safe for children?

According to the US CDC, the COVID-19 vaccine for children is “safe and effective”. The CDC has revealed that the vaccines have been authorized by FDA and recommended by CDC for children between the age of 5 to 11 years. In clinical trials, mild side effects of vaccines similar to those seen in adults were witnessed, according to the US CDC. According to the press release by the Australian government, the vaccine is "safe and effective" and has undergone extensive testing for safety and efficacy before being approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). The Australian Health Ministry in the statement assured the parents, carers and guardians that vaccinating their children against COVID-19 will help them to protect their kids from the virus infection. 

Meanwhile, Israel in November started administering COVID-19 vaccines to children aged between 5 to 11 and insisted that the vaccines are "effective and safe". According to the Israel Health Ministry, the Pfizer vaccine has received the approval of the FDA (the American Food and Drug Administration) for children aged 5 to 11. According to the clinical trials, vaccines were found " highly safe with high efficacy" in preventing symptomatic illness, severe illness, hospitalization or death. According to the Israel health ministry, the vaccine's efficacy measured among children aged between 5 to 11 is above 90%. 

Side Effects of vaccines among children

According to Johns Hopkins University, the children after getting vaccinated might experience pain at the injection site (upper arm). The children might get more tired than usual. There is also the possibility of headache, muscle or joint ache, fever and chills. These side effects are usually temporary and generally get over within 48 hours. 

According to the US CDC, the possible side effects are normal signs showing that the body is building protection against COVID. The possible side effects as per the US CDC are pain, redness and swelling on the injection site. Furthermore, the child might experience tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, fever, nausea. The CDC noted that the side effects experienced by the children would go away in a few days. 

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Published January 10th, 2022 at 19:50 IST

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