Spain distributes 1.3 million pediatric vaccines among the regions
The Spanish Ministry of Health received on Monday and then distributed among the regions (comunidades autonomas) and the autonomous cities 1,360,000 doses of the pediatric vaccine against Covid-19.
The aim is to expand the vaccination campaign to children between 5 and 11 years of age throughout the country.
According to the Ministry of Health, the regional health services will begin to inoculate the doses to children from 5 to 11 years on Wednesday 15 December.
The Ministry of Health recommends that vaccination of this age group preferably begin with high-risk children and the older age groups (10 and 11 years). The second dose of the pediatric vaccine will be given within 8 weeks of the first.
According to the Spanish government, the pediatric version of the Comirnaty vaccine (Pfizer/BioNTech) has shown an efficacy of 90.7% against symptomatic Covid-19 in clinical trials with boys and girls between 5 and 11 years old and with a more reactogenicity lower than in the 16 to 25 age group.
Children who have recovered from the Covid-19 disease
Children between 5 and 11 years old with a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection, regardless of the date of confirmation, will be vaccinated as follows:
With a single dose starting 4 weeks after diagnosis of infection or symptom onset date. In the case of infection after having received the first dose, the course will be completed with a second dose after recovery and when 4 weeks have elapsed after the infection, also maintaining the interval of 8 weeks with respect to the first dose.
For now, the message from the Spanish government is that it is not in favor of recommending the administration of booster doses for the entire population.
"The Ministry of Health insists on the importance of prioritizing the administration of booster doses in those groups such as health workers and those over 60, as well as promoting primary vaccination in people who have not yet been vaccinated," the Health department says in a statement.