Germany-coronavirus: Stiko issued a recommendation for vaccination of children aged 5-11

The Standing Committee on Vaccination (Stiko) today issued a recommendation for vaccinating healthy children aged 5-11 with a single dose of Covid-19 vaccine over the summer.

In anticipation of the autumn and a possible new wave of the pandemic, Stiko today changed its recommendation for vaccinating children aged 5-11 and now recommends that they be vaccinated in the summer with the BionTech / Pfizer formulation, even if they are already ill. Until now, the relevant recommendation only concerned children with an underlying disease or other aggravating condition and was conditional on the recommendation of the treating physician.

Stiko also points out that a coronavirus infection is not enough to protect, but they need either triple vaccination or a combination of disease and vaccination. If the time of the disease is known, it is mentioned in the recommendation, one should wait three months before the vaccination, in order to achieve the best possible protection. It is clarified, however, that there is no risk of vaccination very close to infection. In the worst case, it is noted, the protection may not reach the highest possible level. Healthy children should be vaccinated with a single dose, because it is estimated that in this age group 70-100% have already been infected once with coronavirus. Children who have already been vaccinated twice do not need to be vaccinated for the time being, it is stressed.

The aim of the new Commission recommendation is to establish good basic immunity as early as possible in the autumn and winter, as, as Stiko pediatrician Martin Terhart said, “no one knows how the pandemic will develop, while new variants could appear or older “. At the end of the summer the situation will be re-evaluated and Stiko will adjust, if necessary, its composition, depending on the variations that will be released and the acceptance of the vaccination by the population.

SOURCE: AMPE