Virologists estimate the number of teenagers who want to be vaccinated against COVID-19

There are fears that the level of vaccination of children will be lower than that of the adult population, Sergei Voznesensky, Associate Professor of the Department of Infectious Diseases at the People's Friendship University of RUSSIA, told RBC.

On January 31, free vaccination of adolescents against covid-19 with Sputnik M began in Moscow.

According to Voznesensky, today there is “opposition” and “incomplete acceptance of the vaccine” in society, as evidenced by the “rather low coverage of adult vaccination compared to other countries.”

“In interpreting this for teenagers and how parents will react to vaccination of minors, I can express some skepticism. I think that the level of vaccination of children will be expected to be even lower than that of adults,” he said.

According to Voznesensky, vaccination of adolescents is needed to avoid the spread of foci of the disease using this age group. The vaccine is being given in an attempt to protect adults who don't want to be vaccinated and older people who have more severe illness, he said.