The health ministry is exploring vaccinating children aged five to 11 years with the Pfizer paediatric vaccines. The health minister said negotiations to procure the vaccine from the Pfizer Company are ongoing. There are 83,227 children aged five to 11 years in the country.
The Food and Drug Administration or FDA in the United States recently approved the Pfizer paediatric vaccine in children of five to 11 years.
According to the FDA officials, the vaccine was found to be more than 90 per cent effective in preventing COVID in young children. The FDA’s evaluation also did not find any serious side effects.
As of now, only Israel and the United States have rolled out the vaccination for children in this age group.
However, the Pfizer paediatric vaccine is still awaiting emergency use authorisation from the World Health Organization.
Meanwhile, the ministry is planning to provide the COVID-19 booster doses to the priority groups including people residing in high-risk areas. Elderly aged 65 and above, immunocompromised individuals and health workers comprise the priority group. Currently, the ministry has 211,290 doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines from the previous vaccination programme.
As of November 17, the health ministry has vaccinated 76.8 per cent of the country’s overall population. This is including 93.2 per cent of the adult population and 92.8 per cent of children aged between 12 and 17 years.
Sonam Pem
Edited by Yeshi Gyaltshen
