Finland begins mass vaccination of children against coronavirus

On August 9, Finland began mass vaccination against CORONAVIRUS for children aged 12 to 15 years. According to Yle.fi, teenagers will be vaccinated with Pfizer and Moderna. However, this publication clarified that the vaccination of children against covid-19 is not mandatory in Suomi.

Benefits and Risks

The Finns have begun vaccinating their children amid an increase in the incidence in the country that began at the end of June 2021. If on June 25 not a single new case of coronavirus was registered in Suomi, then from the next day the number of new infections began to grow rapidly. Over the past day, 449 cases of COVID-19 have been detected in the country (for the entire pandemic in Finland, 112,656 people were infected with coronavirus).

Experts from the Finnish Institute for HEALTH and Social Development and the Vaccine Research Center believe that coronavirus vaccines are safe for children aged 12 to 15 years. “Scientists have not identified any safety issues for these age groups, but due to the limited number of participants, it was not possible to identify all possible side effects,” says Anna Scherleitner, medical specialist at the Finnish Institute for Health and Social Development. She recalls that clinical trials of vaccines in Pfizer and Moderna in the age group from 12 to 15 years have already been carried out.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved the vaccination of adolescents with Pfizer at the end of May. In July, the EMA issued the same recommendation for Moderna. At the same time, among the rare side effects (1: 30,000) of Pfizer and Moderna in men aged 12-39 years, myocarditis and pericarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) were noted. According to Anna Scherleitner, the risk of myocarditis was known to the EMA even before the permission to vaccinate the child population - and the agency considered that "the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the potential risks."

Vaccination of children in other countries

Many developed countries have already begun vaccinating adolescents from the age of 12 against coronavirus and, in parallel, continue clinical trials of vaccines for younger children. Thus, the vaccination of adolescents against coronavirus has already begun in Israel, the usa , CANADA, France, the Netherlands, Italy, etc. Germany began to vaccinate only those children from the age of 12 who are at risk (children with chronic diseases who are lagging behind in development).