Children aged 12 to 15 can now take Covid-19 vaccine in Qatar

MoPH approved the emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on adolescents.

Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) on Monday said parents are now able to register their 12 to 15 year-old children to take the Covid-19 vaccine through the ministry’s website.

This comes a week after the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Pfizer-BioNTech’s request for the emergency use of the Covid-19 vaccine on kids aged twelve and above.

The giant pharmaceutical company submitted in April a request to the FDA to expand the emergency use authorisation of its Covid-19 vaccine, enabling kids aged 12 to 15 to receive the injection.

Trials to ensure the safety of vaccines for adolescents have been conducted in recent months, with results showing no symptomatic infections among vaccinated children among the aforementioned age range.

According to the findings, the shot appeared to be extremely effective on kids. Pfizer said children produced “strong antibodies” and experienced no serious side effects.

Read also: FDA approves Pfizer vaccine use for children aged 12 to 15

Now that an official statement has been published by health authorities in Qatar, the emergency use approval could ease the return to normalcy for thousands of families.

In April, Qatar reported a noticeable increase of Covid-19 infections in children. On the week of April 18, children in Qatar accounted for 13% of national Covid-19 infections.

The new strains spreading in Qatar are affecting younger people under the age of 18 than previously seen during the first wave of the virus, the Head of Vaccination at Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) Dr. Soha Al Bayat, previously told Doha News. 

However, the state has been witnessing a decrease in Covid-19 cases with the numbers dropping to 302 positive cases in the past 24 hours. The total number of active cases now stands at 5,157.

The latest approval could mean the expansion of national vaccination campaigns around the world, providing more immunity to populations.

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