Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Australia to Vaccinate Children under 12 from January


Sun 14 Nov 2021 | 11:42 AM
Omnia Ahmed

Australia is set to start vaccinating children under the age of 12 against COVID-19 in January, officials announced on Sunday.

Health Minister Greg Hunt noted that medical regulators are still reviewing the health and safety data for the vaccinations to be administered for children between the ages of five and 11 and are unlikely to be decided this year.

"The expectation that they have set is the first part of January, hopefully early January," Hunt told the Australian Broadcast Corp's Insiders program. "But they're going as quickly as possible."

This month, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the Pfizer Inc (PFE.N)/BioNTech SE shot for broad use in the 5-11 age group, after it was authorized by the Food and Drug Administration.

Army Lieutenant-General John Frewen, Australia's COVID-19 Taskforce commander told The Age newspaper that Australia has secured the necessary supplies. "We have actually purchased sufficient supply for doses and boosters down to infants," Frewen said.

On Friday, the country crossed the 90% single-dose mark for those aged 16 and over, with 83% having two shots. It vaccinated 57.7% of children between the ages of 12 and 15, according to health ministry data.