China Aims to Vaccinate All Kids Aged Three and Over by Year-End
China Aims to Vaccinate All Kids Aged Three and Over by Year-End
(Bloomberg) -- China plans to fully vaccinate all children between the ages of three and 11 against Covid-19 by the end of this year, even as some countries hesitate over greenlighting childhood inoculations before more data is available.
The country has already fully vaccinated more than 75% of its 1.4 billion people, mostly adults and the elderly, with a slew of homegrown Covid shots. In recent weeks, the world’s most populous country has focused on rolling out boosters for adults and getting the initial shots in arms of teenagers and kids as young as three years old.
With schools, including kindergartens, holding vaccine clinics around the country, more than 84 million kids aged 3 to 11 have already received at least one dose, according to data released by China’s National Health Commission over the weekend.
Halfway There
“Half of the 160 million kids between 3 to 11 have started getting the shot -- that’s a very good result,” Wang Dengfeng, an official with the country’s Ministry of Education, said during a briefing in Beijing on Saturday. Vaccination for children is voluntary, he said.
The immunization push could help China grapple with the broadest outbreak of Covid-19 since the virus first emerged in Wuhan and maintain its Covid Zero approach to controlling the pathogen. The country is experiencing waves of infection triggered by different events, with elderly tourists bringing the pathogen home with them after seeing the changing leaves in the northwest during the fall and a flare-up in the port city of Dalian tied to cold-chain foods in the past week.
Many parts of the world have pivoted to immunizing children since they account for a rising number of infections, some of which have been severe and led to death. The changing demographics of the outbreaks are particularly pronounced in many highly-vaccinated countries, where most of the adult population has already been inoculated.
China approved the inactivated vaccines developed by state-owned Sinopharm and Beijing-based Sinovac Biotech Ltd for kids as young as three in June. The country also prioritized vaccination for college students, with more than 95% of students over 18 already inoculated.
Other Approvals
The Chinese inactivated vaccines have also been approved for use among children as young as three years old in countries ranging from the United Arab Emirates to Argentina and Chile. Hong Kong’s expert health care panel is set to review the Sinovac shot for children as young as three years old in a briefing on Monday.
Meanwhile, a lower-dose version of the highly effective mRNA vaccine co-developed by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE has been cleared in the U.S. for use among children 5-to-11 year-olds. The companies are seeking approval for its use in younger kids elsewhere around the world.
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With assistance from Bloomberg