Intended for healthcare professionals

Letters Vaccinating vulnerable children

Inviting adolescents aged 12-17 for covid-19 vaccination: the need for patience

BMJ 2021; 374 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n2172 (Published 09 September 2021) Cite this as: BMJ 2021;374:n2172
  1. Peter A M de Beer, specialist physician and adviser in global health and tropical medicine1,
  2. Koenraad Van den Abbeele, consultant physician2
  1. 1Medical Services for the Tropics/Dr de Beer Travel Clinic, Maastricht, Netherlands
  2. 2Department of Medicine, Wexham Park Hospital, Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, UK
  1. mstropics{at}planet.nl

The UK shows restraint in rolling out covid-19 vaccination for adolescents by reserving it for vulnerable children.1 We commend such prudence.2

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) recently accepted the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna covid-19 vaccines for use from 12 years old. Expected direct benefits are reductions in multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children and long covid; indirect benefits are less virus circulation and herd immunity because too many adults are refusing. EMA is reviewing vaccine side effects such as myocarditis and pericarditis.

The Dutch Health …

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