Stiko recommends only one-time vaccination for children

 To date, there has been no general vaccination recommendation for children unless they suffer from previous illnesses. Now the Stiko has made a recommendation for all five to eleven year olds.

Stiko recommends a one-time corona vaccination from the age of 5
Source: dpa

The Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) now recommends a corona vaccination for healthy children between the ages of five and eleven  . In contrast to the vaccination scheme for other groups, they should initially only receive one mRNA vaccine dose, as the committee based at the Robert Koch Institute confirmed to ZDF.

The vaccination should "preferably" be carried out with the vaccine Comirnaty from Biontech in a reduced dose. According to the approval, Spikevax (Moderna) can also be used by children aged six to eleven. It is a final recommendation.

RKI tweet on vaccination recommendations for children

Recommendation as a precaution for autumn

The vaccination recommendation was made as a precaution because a renewed increase in corona infections is to be expected in autumn and winter, wrote the Stiko.

The initially one-off vaccination aims to build up the best possible basic immunity.

Stiko

If it should become necessary to improve the vaccination protection, this can then be done quickly with a longer vaccination interval between the first and second vaccination. Such a longer interval would then "enable a better protective effect and longer-lasting protection", it said.

The probability of heart muscle inflammation (myocarditis) after the second vaccination that may later be necessary can be further reduced by a longer vaccination interval in this age group, in which the risk is already much lower than in adolescents and adults.

Furthermore, two vaccinations plus boosters for previous illnesses

So far, Stiko had only recommended corona vaccination for children between the ages of five and eleven if they had certain previous illnesses and were therefore at increased risk or people with a high corona risk in the area. Up until now, however, every child has been able to be vaccinated on request and after consultation with a doctor.

RKI tweet

Children with previous illnesses should continue to receive basic immunization with two vaccinations and a booster vaccination, according to Stiko in its updated recommendation. Children without previous illnesses, in whose environment there are people at high risk of a severe course, should therefore receive a basic immunization with two vaccine doses.

Healthy children who have already received two vaccinations should not be vaccinated again at first.

Stiko

New vaccination assessment in late summer

The Stiko also promised that the question of whether it would be necessary to complete the basic immunization or a booster vaccination for children would be reassessed in late summer - or when the number of infections increased again.

Vaccination recommendations from Stiko are considered the medical standard and are an important guideline for many doctors. The Stiko had previously justified the lack of a general vaccination recommendation for the age group with the fact that there was a lack of data and that there was only a low risk of severe Covid 19 disease for healthy children.
There has long been a general vaccination recommendation for children over the age of 12, and no vaccine has yet been approved for children under five.

https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/panorama/corona-impfung-kinder-stiko-empfehlung-102.html