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WHO urges countries to globally share COVID-19 shots before vaccinating children

November 24, 2021
Henry Club

“Countries should consider the individual and population benefits of immunizing children and adolescents in their specific epidemiological and social context when developing their COVID-19 vaccination policies and programs,” the statement said on Wednesday.

The WHO has long argued that older adults, people with chronic health conditions and health workers should be given priority for vaccines and that vaccinating children is “less essential”. The new statement acknowledges that some countries that have already distributed vaccines to those priority groups, including the United States, are now vaccinating children.

Apart from the US and most members of the European Union, other countries to vaccinate children include Cuba, which was the first to do so. Vaccinate children under 2 years of age Starting in September, Chile, China, El Salvador and the United Arab Emirates.
“In the case of global equity, while many parts of the world are facing extreme vaccine shortages, countries that have achieved high vaccine coverage in their high-risk populations may be required to provide COVID-19 through the COVAX facility before proceeding. Priority should be given to global sharing of -19 vaccines. To vaccinate children and adolescents at low risk of serious disease, WHO statement said. COVAX belongs to WHO Global Vaccine Sharing Program,

“Given the current global disparity in access to vaccines, the decision to vaccinate adolescents and children should be accounted for with a priority to fully protect the highest-risk subgroups through the primary vaccination chain, and since vaccination The vaccine’s effectiveness declines over time, through booster doses,” the WHO statement said.

“As such, before considering implementing a primary vaccination series in adolescents and children, to achieve higher coverage of the primary series and to reduce vaccination impact and to receive an evidence-based booster dose of adaptation – older adults As such should be considered in the highest risk subgroups.”

A push to vaccinate the world

WHO has long called for global vaccine equity.

In August, the WHO pressured 20 of the world’s most powerful leaders and pharmaceutical majors to address “outrageous” disparities in access to vaccines from the fall.

Bruce Aylward, senior advisor to WHO director general and head of the ACT Accelerator Initiative, said in August Social Media Q&A The world must “hate” the imbalance of tools available to fight the pandemic. He appealed to the world’s wealthiest countries to focus on helping all countries vaccinate 10% of their population by September 2021.
That target was not met, because “56 countries that were effectively excluded from the global vaccine market had not been able to reach the target of vaccinating 10% of their population by the end of September – and most of them in Africa.” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a news briefing last month,
Earlier in the pandemic, the WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group on Experts on Immunization (SAGE) issued a “roadmap“On how to prioritize COVID-19 vaccine supply, starting with the highest-risk groups, an approach that has been adopted by most countries.

WHO Chief Scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan said in a news release on Wednesday, “I think whether children are vaccinated or not will depend on how we are able to cover these other priority groups first, the disease.” What is the epidemiology of? Briefing in Geneva

Millions of children worldwide missed routine vaccinations during pandemic, study shows

He said more data is needed for children to better understand how natural infection has occurred in their age group, something that will vary from country to country.

“Then when we reach the goal of reducing transmission, to a very low level in fact, at that point, one can even consider vaccinating children,” Swaminathan said.

“I think the guidance on children would be very relevant and specific to the local context,” she said. “But, we also need to wait for more vaccines to have data in children before making further recommendations.”

The WHO notes in its new interim statement that vaccinations to children and adolescents have benefits that go beyond direct health benefits, including vaccinations that help to safely open schools and prevent coronavirus transmission in other age groups, including older adults. can help reduce

The WHO also states that it is of “extreme importance” that children continue to receive the recommended childhood vaccines for other infectious diseases.

In data published in July, the WHO reported that a total of 23 million children missed basic routine vaccinations last year – 3.7 million more than children missed in 2019.

Tedros said in the July announcement, “Even as countries struggle to get their hands on COVID-19 vaccines, we have lagged behind on other vaccinations, preventing children from getting measles, polio or meningitis.” devastating but preventable diseases such as

“Outbreaks of many diseases will be devastating to communities and health systems already battling COVID-19, making it more urgent than ever to invest in childhood vaccinations and ensure every child has access.”

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