Children vaccinate at the same time as adults

On Sunday, news came that Pfizer was conducting studies of vaccines in children between the ages of 12 and 18 in the United States. The result, according to the company, is complete protection against Covid-19 and there are no worse side effects than those seen in adults.

According to Michael Dolsten, head of research at Pfizer in Sweden, it is possible to envision a vaccine available for children just in time for singing the first notes of “climax” in schools.

It may be possible to start vaccinating Swedish schoolchildren before the end of the school year in Sweden, he says SVT on Sunday.

Expert requirements: parallel vaccine

In such a scenario, vaccination of the adult population in Sweden is still ongoing. But many experts believe there are good arguments for not waiting for children to be vaccinated.

The virus can spread among young people and then remain in society, says Ali Merazimi, professor of clinical virology at the Karolinska Institute for SvD.

It is believed that although children generally become less sick than adults, it is a matter of reducing the risks and trying to eliminate the virus from society.

In the fall, schools will open. Then, I think you should have started vaccinating the children as well, he continues.

Protect children

Lund’s colleague, Farshid Jalalvand, a researcher in clinical microbiology at Lund University, thinks it is also about reducing risks and cites MIS-C (pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome) that some children suffer from several months after they are infected with the Covid virus.

– For a while, the pediatric intensive care unit in Lund was completely full due to this strange inflammatory syndrome, he tells SvD.

Jalalvand stresses, however, that it is important not to rush to get a vaccine, but to leave studies and the approval process taking its time.

But you have to respect the fact that biology is unpredictable in cases like this, he says.