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Will Denmark vaccinate children aged 5-11 against Covid-19?

Ritzau/The Local
Ritzau/The Local - [email protected]
Will Denmark vaccinate children aged 5-11 against Covid-19?
Vuggestuen DUI i Aalborg åbner igen for institutionens børn, onsdag morgen den 15. april 2020. På grund af coronakrisen har vuggestuen været lukket, og efter der er lavet om på vuggestuen inden- og udendørs kan børnene og de voksne pædagoger holde afstand og vaske hænder.. (Foto: Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix)

Denmark is likely to address whether to offer Covid-19 vaccination for children younger than 12 years if the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommends it.

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While Denmark currently offers Covid-19 vaccination to children aged 12 years and over, smaller kids may soon be offered a jab against the virus. The EMA yesterday said it had begun assessment of whether the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine can be recommended for children aged 5-11.

The director of the Danish Health Authority, Søren Brostrøm, earlier stated he expects a decision on whether Denmark will offer the vaccine to young children to depend on a variety of considerations, should the EMA recommend the use of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for under-12s.

“It will depend on documentation, approval, and how the epidemic is looking,” Brostrøm earlier said to financial media Børsen on the likelihood of Denmark offering Covid-19 vaccination to smaller children.

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Last month, Pfizer/BioNTech published results from a study in which the company’s vaccine was tested among 2,268 children aged 5-11 years.

In the study, children were given one third of the normal dose, divided into two jabs.

Results showed a “robust” level of antibodies corresponding to the amount produced in a separate study on 16-25 year-olds, according to the two companies.

The EMA assessment will result in a recommendation before the EU Commission makes a final decision on approval. The Commission normally follows the EMA recommendation.

For the vaccine to be offered for children in Denmark, the Danish Health Authority will also have to give the green light to its use in the country.

Moderna, the other medical company to produce Covid-19 vaccines currently in use in Denmark, is also seeking approval for use of its vaccines on children under the age of 12, but is yet to reached the final stage of the process.

READ ALSO: Health authority says Denmark has not withdrawn Moderna Covid-19 vaccine from under-18s

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