About 300 minors of this age group receive this Wednesday in Murcia the first dose against Covid
Nine-year-old Daniel was one of the first to receive the pediatric vaccine against Covid this Wednesday in Murcia. “I haven’t even had time to find out about the puncture, it didn’t hurt at all,” he proudly said at the Palacio de los Deportes. He was accompanied by his eleven-year-old brother Fede, who will have to wait until Friday to receive the puncture because his parents did not get an appointment for both of them on the same day. “I have no fear, I want to get vaccinated to end all this mess,” he confessed.
Daniel and Fede attended with their mother, Belén Fernández, a Civil Engineer. “It was clear to me that they should be vaccinated, because if the World Health Organization says so, what training do I have to decide otherwise?” He reasoned. “This is how we are protecting them and the family,” he stressed. For this Christmas, Daniel and Fede will be able to “hug their grandparents”, already protected from the virus.
About 300 children between 8 and 11 years old were summoned this Wednesday at the Palacio de los Deportes. Gonzalo and Gabriel left happy: the puncture was fast, without queues or waiting. “I haven’t even seen the syringe,” 8-year-old Gonzalo said. “In all this time of pandemic, children have been suffering the consequences, now is the time to protect them,” said Daniel López, their father.
The Spanish Association of Pediatrics encourages vaccination. Neither in clinical trials nor in countries where children are already being immunized have relevant adverse effects been detected, and studies point to an efficacy greater than 90%. Vaccination has two objectives. On the one hand, protect children. Although the vast majority of cases in minors are mild, zero risk of serious disease does not exist. Since May 2020, 23,651 Covid positives have been registered in the Region of Murcia among children under 14 years of age. Of these, 125 required hospitalization, and 5 were admitted to the ICU. There have been no deaths. The possibility of serious disease is therefore small, but the probability of adverse effects is even lower, according to clinical studies, and it is this risk-benefit balance that determines the suitability of a vaccination.
But, in addition, the immunization campaign in children increases the already high vaccination coverage, which results in greater protection of the entire population and, above all, of the most vulnerable. “It is not advisable for the virus reproduction niche to focus on children,” explains the head of Pediatrics at La Arrixaca, Manuel Sánchez-Solís. The sixth wave began hand in hand with an increase in the incidence among those under 12 years of age, although now infections have already skyrocketed in all age groups.
Manuel Sánchez Solís emphasizes that the adverse effects of the vaccine are less frequent among the youngest children: “Myocarditis occurred in 70 cases per million among young adults, while only 5 children out of a million suffered from it.” In this sense, Sánchez insists on launching a message of “tranquility”, since the effectiveness “exceeds 90%” and it is “safer for children than for any age group.”
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