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WHEN WILL CHILDREN BE VACCINATED?
As we cling to the vaccination weapon in the fight against coronavirus, good news has also come for children. After 16 years of age, the BioNTech vaccine also received FDA approval for 12-15 years of age. So how will the process in Turkey work? What does vaccination of children mean in terms of the epidemic process? Experts describe,
Now we all know that fast vaccination is the way to become victorious in battle with Covid-19. Social immunity, which comes with vaccination, is the most important factor in reducing the impact of the virus. About 60-70 percent of its population must be vaccinated to gain social immunity, experts say. Currently, there have been some important developments when we say that vaccination continues only for the adult population in the world.
Pfizer produced a study report involving 2260 children aged 12-15. The BioNTech vaccine triggered stronger immune responses in this age group than in adults, according to the report. The company then submitted the study to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA had authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use in people 16 and older in December. Now, BioNTech has announced that it has approved the use of the vaccine in children aged 12-15.
Finally, The Telegraph reported that Pfizer officials had raised the same issue in the UK. According to the news, if Pfizer’s official application to the medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency is approved, it could also be the vaccination of young people between the ages of 12 and 15 in this country.
1. Why is it necessary to vaccinate children?
2. Is the effectiveness of the vaccine different in the 12-15 age group?
3. How much priority is vaccination of children?
4. Does vaccination of children change the course of the epidemic?
5. When is the child’s age group vaccinated in our country?
Member of the Turkish Scientific Council answers to all these questions and more…
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IT PROVIDES ONE HUNDRED PERCENT EFFECTIVENESS IN CHILDREN
Member of the Scientific Council Prof. Dr. details the Pfizer / BioNTech study, “the BioNTech vaccine recently completed its study with 2260 children aged 12-15. In the study, the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine was compared with the 16-25 age group. It was understood that the safety data for the vaccine was not very different in the 12-15 age group than in the 16-25 age group. In addition, as a result of the study, the vaccine was found to protect children from 100 percent symptomatic disease,” was says.
“Canada was the first country to give approval for use to children aged 12-15 years while they were continuing, ” said, who said the results of the study were quite good. They will soon start vaccinating this age group,” he says.
Microbiology Specialist Prof. Dr. “Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine bnt162b2, administered to 2260 children in the 12-15 age group, is well tolerated, does not cause serious side effects, and the resulting effectiveness is better than the 16-25 group, which is an upper age group, the vaccine provides 100% effectiveness,“ was said. It is very likely that the duration of this effective immunity will also be much longer than that of those in the upper age groups,” he says.
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CHILDREN ARE INVOLVED IN THE CONTAGION CHAIN
Although the results of all these studies are quite good, the first question that comes to people’s minds is “why is it necessary to vaccinate children?” ‘s.
Prof. Dr. answers this question as follows: “in fact, children overcome this disease slightly. But although very rare, one in 1,000 children can develop multi-system inflammatory syndrome, which we call mis-C. They can be vaccinated to prevent this. Apart from that, children are now in an important position in the transmission chain. It may also be important for them to be vaccinated to cut this chain of contagion. Because scientific data has begun to come in that the rate of transmission of vaccinated people has also decreased.”
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VACCINATION AGE GROUP SHOULD BE WELL BALANCED
Another curious issue about vaccination of children is the question of whether starting vaccination of this age group will reduce the rate of vaccination of adults. According to the Prof. Dr., the distribution of vaccination in age groups should be balanced very well.
“The priority for those who have problems with Vaccine Provision should be the adult population, which is more vulnerable to the disease, since deaths will be prevented,” was said who said that it would be right to start vaccinating children in order to access community immunity for countries that do not have a problem with Vaccine Provision.
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NORMALIZATION MAY ACCELERATE WITH VACCINATION OF CHILDREN
“Normalization is only possible with the participation of all layers of society in social life. A very active and crowded group of these layers are also school-age children” ” said Professor of Microbiology Dr. underlines that vaccination of children aged 12-15 will be a positive step for the normalization of social life.
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WHEN IN TURKEY?
If children begin to be vaccinated, it is also a question of curiosity when it will be the turn of this age group in Turkey. Prof. Dr. says that children make up 25 percent of society in Turkey. It also underlines that 50 to 70 percent of society must be vaccinated to ensure social immunity,
“Children will also contribute to social immunity by vaccination. Of course, children should not be vaccinated now. After adult risk groups and all age groups that need to be vaccinated are vaccinated, children will also now become candidates for vaccination,” he says.
Prof. Dr. says that the date of vaccination of children may come towards the end of the year, “in the vaccination program, which will be conducted with the goal of normalization, people of all age groups should be vaccinated in the near time period. Therefore, vaccination of children should be carried out by taking breaks. In this way, the safe opening of schools can also be carried out,” he says.
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MODERNA AND JOHNSON & JOHNSON ARE ALSO WORKING ON CHILDREN
Currently, the only vaccine awaiting vaccination approval on children is the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. So, what other vaccines are there for children’s work? Prof. Dr. summarizes the work of vaccine companies as follows:
“Emergency use approval for 12-15 years has currently only received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. However, it is written that Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which has been trialed in children aged 6 months to 11 years, will seek FDA approval in September for use between the ages of 2-11.
Again, with the mRNA-1273 Vaccine of Moderna, which is an mRNA vaccine, different doses of the vaccine between 6 months and 11 years of age began trials. The first results are expected in mid-summer.
It is also known that the vector vaccine produced by Johnson & Johnson, which is currently approved for emergency use for the over-18s, has also been tried in younger age groups.”
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Turkey's world-renowned organ transplant specialist. Dr. Demirbaş has 104 international publications and 102 national publications.
Physician's Resume:
Born on August 7, 1963 in Çorum, Prof. Dr. Alper Demirbaş has been continuing his work as the President of MedicalPark Antalya Hospital Organ Transplantation Center since 2008.
Prof. who performed the first tissue incompatible kidney transplant in Turkey, the first blood type incompatible kidney transplant, the first kidney-pancreas transplant program and the first cadaveric donor and live donor liver transplant in Antalya. Dr. As of August 2016, Alper Demirbaş has performed 4900 kidney transplants, 500 liver transplants and 95 pancreas transplants.
In addition to being the chairman of 6 national congresses, he has also been an invited speaker at 12 international and 65 national scientific congresses. Dr. Alper Demirbaş was married and the father of 1 girl and 1 boy.
Awards:
Eczacibasi Medical Award of 2002, Akdeniz University Service Award of 2005, Izder Medical Man of the Year Award of 2006, BÖHAK Medical Man of the Year Award of 2007, Sabah Mediterranean Newspaper Scientist of the Year Award of 2007, ANTIKAD Scientist of the Year Award of 2009, Social Ethics Association Award of 2010, Işık University Medical Man of the Year Award of 2015, VTV Antalya's Brand Value Award of 2015.
Certificates:
Doctor of Medicine Degree Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine Ankara, General Surgeon Ministry of Health Turkey EKFMG (0-477-343-8), University of Miami School of Medicine Member of Multiple Organ Transplant, ASTS Multiorgan Transplant Scholarship. Lecturer at Kyoto University. Lecturer at University of Essen, Research assistant at the University of Cambridge .
Professional Members:
American Society of Transplant Surgeons, American Transplantation Society Nominated, Middle East and Southern Africa Council Transplantation Society 2007, International Liver Transplantation Association, Turkish Transplantation Association, Turkish Society of Surgery, Turkish Hepatobiliary Surgery Association.
Disclaimer:
Our website contents consist of articles approved by our Web and Medical Editorial Board with the contributions of our physicians. Our contents are prepared only for informational purposes for public benefit. Be sure to consult your doctor for diagnosis and treatment.