Children aged 5 to 11 to order Covid vaccine as European Union approves vaccination for teenagers

KIDS aged five to 11 are set to receive the coronavirus vaccine as the European Union (EU) approves the shots for young children.

These children will be given a lower dose than children 12 years of age and older after a study showed a similar immune response to a higher dose.

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That means UK children could be stung for a few weeks as UK regulators can follow the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommendation.

The vaccine has been developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and its official name is Comirnaty.

The jab’s approval is given because the coronavirus cases are keep increasing in Europe.

Europe could face “300,000 deaths and a million hospitalizations” as Covid wreaks havoc across the continent this winter, a new study suggests.

Research by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine warns that 280,000 people alone could be hospitalized in Germany as Europe faces a new wave of Covid lockdowns.

In the UK, cases are also on the rise in school-age children, with experts in the worst-hit parts of the country claiming increase in cases for children and unvaccinated people.

The EMA tested the vaccine on 1,305 children aged 5 to 11 years old with no previous signs of coronavirus infection.

During the trial, the children were given a vaccine or a placebo drug.

Of the 1,305 children vaccinated, 3 developed Covid-19 compared with 16 out of 663 children who received the placebo.

It means the vaccine has been shown to be 90.7% effective in preventing symptomatic Covid-19.

Experts note that the prevention rate can actually be as low as 67.7% and as high as 98.3%.

Research shows that the most common side effects in children are similar to those in the general population.

Side effects were mild or moderate, the most common being pain at the injection site, fatigue, headache, redness at the injection site, muscle pain, and chills.

These symptoms usually go away a few days after vaccination.

The EMA’s Committee on Human Medicines said the study showed the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks.

They say this is particularly the case in children with medical conditions that put them at risk of severe Covid-19 illness.