Children jabs ready on January

Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has provisionally approved the Pfizer vaccine for children between five and 11 years of age. Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said the government expected to begin the rollout of the vaccine to the age group from January 10, once it was approved by the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI).

“The vaccine dose approved by the TGA for children aged 5 to 11 is the same safe and effective vaccine used for other age cohorts, however is one-third the dose approved for those aged 12 and over,” he said.

“The Pfizer vaccine for 5 to 11-year-olds will be distributed to vaccine providers in different packaging to the vaccine approved for people 12 and over, and will be clearly differentiated by being dispensed from orange-capped vials instead of grey- or purple-capped vials.

“This two-step TGA and ATAGI assessment-and-approval process is the same rigorous process followed for all COVID-19 vaccine approvals in Australia.”

Once approved, the vaccine will be available to approximately 2.3 million children in the age group. More than 87 per cent of Australians aged 16 and over are fully vaccinated, with several states recording high numbers of those aged between 12 and 15 also getting the jabs. 

The Health Minister said 76.6 per cent of Australians aged between 12 and 15 years have had their first dose, with 67.5 per cent receiving their second. 

The TGA’s provisional approval is the first of four steps that need to be taken before children can receive the vaccine. 

A second step will be the recommendation of vaccine use from ATAGI. 

“The third is training, in relation to the use of the Pfizer vaccine in paediatric cases, and then finally it is the batch-testing,” Mr Hunt said during a press conference on Sunday. “Our batch-testing team will be working right through Christmas, right through the new year.”

Benefits of vaccinating children

TGA head says vaccinating children is important, despite lower risk

Head of the TGA, Professor John Skerritt, said the vaccine had been extensively tested in children with no safety concerns arising. The vaccine is already being rolled out to children in the United States, and is also approved for use in Canada.

Professor Skerritt said that while COVID-19 tended to be very mild in children, it was important they were vaccinated for a few reasons. These included the small risk of serious illness, the possibility children could catch and spread COVID-19 to family members, and providing parents with the confidence to return children to normal activities such as school and play.

Earlier on Sunday, Mr Hunt said the government was considering an application from Moderna for a vaccine for those aged between six and 11 years. “The Government already has supply deals in place to make it available should it be approved by the TGA and recommended by ATAGI.”

So why January, not now?

For many doctors, COVID-19 was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Being isolated physically from family and friends, and overwhelmed by the surge of sickness and death they face on a daily basis, means that depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and secondary trauma are reaching levels that have never been seen before.

Now that under the strike of Omicron, which seemingly increases even more pressure on health workers. Government tries to show compassionate leadership to all health care workers by giving them a break, enjoy the time with their families over the seasonal festival. However, there is still quite a while until the holiday, hence everyone is under an Omicron tension situation. Clinics and doctors surely still have a bit more time to vaccinate at least hundreds of children beforehand in order to claim the nerves out of all parents.