File picture: EPA
THE SOUTH African Paediatric Association (Sapa) has welcomed the approval of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for children over the age of 12. The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) last week approved the vaccine for children over 12.
Sapa’s Professor Mignon McCulloch said parents have nothing to be concerned about.
Speaking to Power Breakfast, she said that the vaccine is safe.
“We have seen that the vaccine has been safe for adults and we've come down the ages with the over 18s being allowed to get vaccinated and we are delighted that the 12 to 18-year-olds have approval. This is also in keeping with what is going on in the rest of the world,” she said.
McCulloch pointed out that in China, North America and Europe lots of children have been vaccinated.
“We are just following the same trends, knowing that it is a safe vaccine. We want to get our kids back to school,” she said.
She added that lots of children are not getting food and are falling victim to sexual and other kinds of abuse because their parents are now back at work and they are at home without caregivers. She said that in some cases children have lost almost two years of schooling.
McCulloch explained that all the vaccines have undergone international trials in both adults and children.
She said that said in the UK, the Royal College of Paediatricians have recommended that children aged 12 to 18 with comorbidities get vaccinated.
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