Pediatric Society says Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine is ‘safe and effective’ for children

The SAP called to vaccinate the boys against COVID-19 (REUTERS / Iván Alvarado)

The Argentine Society of Pediatrics (SAP) called on parents to vaccinate their children against COVID-19 and, after the announcement last week of the authorization for the use of the Pfizer laboratory vaccine for children between 5 and 11 years old , highlighted that it is a “safe and effective” formulation, the same as those that are already in use, which, in the case of the youngest, is that of Chinese Sinopharm origin.

Last Thursday, it was learned that the National Administration of Medicines, Food and Medical Technology (ANMAT) authorized the use of the COVID-19 vaccine from the Pfizer/BioNTech laboratory for children between 5 and 11 years of age. In provision 2022-450, the national control authority decided to authorize the Comirnaty vaccine from the American laboratory for “active immunization to prevent COVID-19 caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, in children between 5 and 11 years of age. ”.

In this sense, the SAP highlighted: “Given the recent announcement of the authorization of a messenger RNA vaccine for children between 5 and 11 years of age, we believe it is important to point out that it is a safe and effective vaccine that should be considered as a tool more together with those that are already in use to improve the progress of the vaccination campaign against COVID-19 in the pediatric population.”

The SAP is a century-old entity that ensures the quality of medical care and compliance with the rights of Children and Adolescents (NNyA) in our country and also seeks to offer the best information and improvement tools for Argentine pediatricians , he recalled in a statement.

The scientific entity, currently chaired by Dr. Rodolfo Pablo Moreno, recalled that in these almost two years that the coronavirus pandemic has been going on, it has worked “to provide updated knowledge about the new virus” by providing “guidelines for the care of children with COVID-19 and its complications. Likewise, “we defended the right to education by supporting safe school attendance, we pointed out our concern about the fall in coverage of calendar vaccines and we support vaccination against COVID-19” in children and adolescents.

Regarding adolescents between 12 and 17 years old, 87.5% have received the first dose and 67.5% already have the complete schedule

“We have worked together with the National Ministry of Health outlining technical aspects for the vaccination of adolescents in August 2021 with messenger RNA vaccines and later, after knowing the technical information used to authorize the use of inactivated vaccines against COVID-19, We also support the vaccination of children aged 3 to 11 years in October 2021″, said the SAP in reference to the incorporation of the Sinopharm vaccine of Chinese origin, which initially raised doubts regarding the criteria of the pediatric society, but which was quickly clarified. your endorsement of your application.

The SAP highlighted the progress in the application of vaccines in boys, since “currently having been only 13 weeks since the start of vaccination in pediatrics, 69.5% of children between 3 and 11 years of age have received the first dose and the 46.5% already have the complete scheme”.

“Regarding adolescents between 12 and 17 years old, 87.5% have received the first dose and 67.5% already have the complete scheme.”

The SAP said that it is working “to improve this coverage by developing different actions such as the generation of a document on COVID-19 vaccines in Pediatrics for consultation and support for pediatricians in the country, in addition to graphic and press campaigns. We are also committed to developing actions to improve the coverage of calendar vaccines, adding them to the vaccination against COVID-19, in order to ensure that when we return to the classroom our children and adolescents are protected and well vaccinated. “, He said.

In this framework, he urged “families and pediatricians to accompany these actions for the health care” of the youngest “to achieve full face-to-face attendance in the near future, not only in schools, but also in sports, social and cultural activities.” so necessary for an integral development” of children.

On January 10, the Minister of Health Carla Vizzotti asked the SAP to join in the development of strategies so that families go to vaccinate their children against COVID-19 with the aim of arriving at the start of classes, between late February and early March, with the largest number of children with the complete scheme.

Likewise, both the Ministry of Health and the SAP agreed to work together to promote the completion of the vaccination of the official pediatric calendar, which in the last two years, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic, has fallen in its coverage between a 10 and 12%, which opens the possibility of returning diseases that are not found in the country at this time.

Vaccination is necessary “to achieve full attendance in the near future not only in schools, but also in sports, social and cultural activities that are so necessary for the comprehensive development” of children (EFE/ Carlos Ortega)

Last Wednesday, a little over a month before the start of classes, Vizzotti, and his Education peer, Jaime Perczyk, met with representatives of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), UNICEF, SAP and the Ombudsman of Boys, Girls and Adolescents with the aim of working together around the readjustment of the protocol prior to the start of the school year, and strategies to strengthen COVID-19 vaccination and co-administration with schedule vaccines in girls, boys and adolescents. teenagers.

In this framework, Moreno, as president of the SAP, agreed with the intersectoral approach to the issues. “We have followed the policies of the Ministry of Health regarding COVID-19 vaccination, we also believe that the recovery of calendar vaccines is a priority. We adhere, we celebrate and we are happy that the Education authorities are here because we have worked for school attendance“, he said.

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The Ministers of Health and Education met with different organizations to develop health measures for the 2022 school yearThe Ministry of Health convened the Pediatrics Society to accelerate vaccination against COVID before classesThe Government convened the Pediatrics Society, concerned due to the low percentage of vaccination in boys from 3 to 17 years old

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