The BMJ Journals published the article ‘Should children be vaccinated against COVID-19?’ which addresses the ongoing debate on the vaccination of children under 12 years of age against COVID-19.
The relatively low risk posed by acute COVID-19 in children, and uncertainty about the relative harms from vaccination and disease mean that the balance of risk and benefit of vaccination in this age group is more complex. One of the key arguments for vaccinating healthy children is to protect them from long-term consequences. Other considerations include population-level factors, such as reducing community transmission, vaccine supply, cost, and the avoidance of quarantine, school closures and other lockdown measures. The emergence of new variants of concern needs continual re-evaluation of the risks and benefits. In this review, we do not argue for or against vaccinating children against COVID-19 but rather outline the points to consider and highlight the complexity of policy decisions on COVID-19 vaccination in this age group.
At this time, COVID-19 vaccines only have ‘emergency use authorisation’ in children between 12 and 16 years of age, which is for interventions that address a serious or life-threatening condition. It has been argued that, unless children are at high risk of severe COVID-19 because of an underlying condition, it is unclear whether the benefits to the individual outweigh the risks in this age group, and approval through the standard regulatory process should be awaited.
The article covers all the above issues and new data on effectiveness and adverse effects.