Israel has begun vaccination against the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19, Corona 19) targeting 16-18 years old. The photo shows a child vaccination. Provided by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)
Israel, which is the most advanced in vaccination rate for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19, Corona 19), has also begun vaccination to adolescents aged 16-18, the BBC and others reported on the 24th (local time). Israel is the first to formulate vaccination for teens.
○ Israel, 16-18 years old vaccination… Expanded to over 40 years old
According to the BBC, the Israeli government has been vaccinating high school students aged 16 to 18 years old, with the consent of their parents, starting on the 23rd, before the college entrance examination. The Israeli Ministry of Health said it was “measures to ensure that students can return to school and take exams.”
Israeli local media, Times of Israel, reported that the Israeli Ministry of Health allowed vaccinations for high school students aged 16-18 on Thursday last week and that vaccinations began last Saturday morning.
In Israel, exams taken at the end of high school semesters play an important role in determining college admission. In addition, when Israel graduates from high school, all young adults, including women, are required to serve in the military, and the results of tests taken while in high school affect the military deployment.
The Israeli government has expanded the targets of vaccination to those aged 40 and over, following the elderly and high-risk groups, starting last Saturday, when vaccinations for ages 16-18 began. According to Times of Israel, 2.5 million people in Israel completed one vaccination of the vaccine as of last Friday (22nd), of which 900,000 have completed two vaccinations.
The Israeli government extended the application period of the national blockade to the 31st of this month in order to increase the effectiveness of vaccination and to curb the spread of Corona 19. Also, starting on the 24th, all flights to and from Israel have been banned to prevent the influx of the mutant virus.
○ Only Pfizer can be vaccinated over the age of 16… 12-15 years old clinical trial in progress
Israel has been vaccinating the Corona 19 vaccine jointly developed by Pfizer, a US pharmaceutical company, and Bioentech, Germany, from the 19th of last month. Earlier this month, the US biotech company Modena’s vaccine was also approved and supplied.
The Pfizer vaccine was approved for emergency use under the condition that it can be vaccinated by the age of 16 or older, and the modder vaccine can only be vaccinated by the age of 18 or older. Accordingly, it is estimated that Israeli youth are vaccinated against Pfizer.
Most of the vaccines that have obtained urgent use approval or are undergoing approval procedures worldwide, including Korea, such as Modena and AstraZeneca, were clinically tested in adults over the age of 18. This means that it can only be vaccinated over the age of 18, even with regulatory approval. There is currently no data that can guarantee the safety of vaccination for adolescents in elementary, middle and high school.
Evan Anderson, a pediatrician at Emory University’s medical school in the United States, said, “We need to be able to ensure the correct dosage, safety and efficacy by conducting clinical trials in children.” I said.
According to statistics, children have a relatively lower rate of COVID-19 infection than adults. However, experts emphasize that this number should not be ignored. According to a report released on January 14 by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association, 2.5 million children in the United States have been confirmed with Corona 19. This accounts for about 13% of all confirmed cases.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 78 children under the age of 4 and 178 children aged 5-17 in the United States died of Corona 19. In addition, a total of 1659’children’s disorder’, which had a sharp increase in patients, mainly in children in the US and Europe after the Corona 19 epidemic, were confirmed, of which 26 died. The official name of the disorder in children is multi-organ inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C), which is believed to be related to COVID-19.
Currently, Pfizer, Modena, and AstraZeneca are conducting clinical trials of the COVID-19 vaccine in adolescents. In speed, Pfizer took the lead. According to CNBC reports on the 22nd, Pfizer began clinical trials of the Corona 19 vaccine in 2259 adolescents aged 12 to 15 years old.
Moderna started a vaccine clinical trial last month with a target of 3,000 adolescents aged 12-17 years old, but currently, about 800 people have applied for the clinical trial, which is slower than expected. Modena is reportedly scheduled to release the results of clinical trials for adolescents before September this year. AstraZeneca is also planning to conduct a clinical trial of the Corona 19 vaccine in British adolescents aged 5-18 in the first half of this year.
Johnson & Johnson’s Corona 19 vaccine, which is expected to be approved in the US sooner or later, is a carrier vaccine manufactured by inserting the gene of the virus into another virus that is harmless to the human body unlike Pfizer and Modena. It is known that it is under discussion. The vehicle vaccine has the advantage that the safety of the vaccine itself has been proven as a technology that has been used by 200,000 people over 65 years of age, infants, children, and pregnant women.
○ In England, it is considered as a priority vaccination target for teachers
In order to resume school, the UK government is considering whether to give priority to vaccination for teachers. SkyNews, a UK news channel, announced on the 24th that the UK government is considering a plan to include teachers as priority targets for the Corona 19 vaccination after the elderly and essential medical staff. Health Minister Matt Hancock said, “We are considering who will be vaccinated in the next order,” and “teachers are a priority.”
In Britain, where a strong blockade has been enforced due to the spread of the mutant virus, voices are demanding to resume school due to concerns about fatigue and education gaps from the prolonged blockade. In May of last year, the Dublin Department of Public Health, Ireland, published a study on May 21 in the open-access medical journal Eurosurveillance that there is virtually no secondary transmission of COVID-19 in schools.
In Korea, controversy over the resumption of school attendance is reigniting as it is known that the results of a study that the benefits of elementary, middle, and high school closures were limited in a recent paper in which Chung Eun-gyeong participated as a corresponding author.
In the December issue of’Pediatric Infection & Vaccine’, the journal’Pediatric Infection & Vaccine’ published by the Korean Society of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, the research team, including Director Chung, published’Children with COVID-19 after Reopening of Schools , South Korea)’, a study found that only 2% of children and adolescents diagnosed with Corona 19 were infected through school.