Children to receive coronavirus vaccine: Dr. Gnjatovic explains why that's is important

"There is a very large number of families in which the parents were positive, the children did not have any symptoms, but they have the antibodies," says Dr. Gnjatovic

Marija Gnjatovic from the Institute of Nuclear Physics said today that trials are being done with children around the world on the effectiveness of applying different doses of the coronavirus vaccine and the safety of application, stating that the recommendation to start vaccinating children is not expected before 2022.

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She told K1 television that it is very good that vaccines are being prepared for children, because, she points out, it is good to have a solution if a strain appears that will be especially dangerous for children.

"Pfizer is doing trials for the population of six months and older. I think they divided them into groups of six months to two years, two to five and five to 12. Different doses are being tested, because a six-month-old child cannot receive the same dose of the vaccine as an adolescent, so the effectiveness of application is being examined of different doses in children and the safety of use," said Gnjatovic, as reported by Tanjug.

She added that it is not expected that the recommendation to vaccinate children will be given before 2022, and that during that time, it should be examined how many children have already been infected.

"There is a very large number of families in which the parents were positive, the children did not have any symptoms, but they have the antibodies. It is necessary to examine whether younger children are the carriers of the virus at all and to what extent, and how much risk they pose for the spread of the infection," Gnjatovic added.

She said that the clinical picture in young people who have coronavirus is generally very good and that they are mild forms of the disease, but that young people are the main carriers of the virus in society, which is why, she added, she appeals on that population to get vaccinated.

"It is not necessary to vaccinate people who have recently had coronavirus. You should wait a few months after the disease, and then get vaccinated," said Marija Gnjatovic.

She explained that the vaccine achieves a better effect when antibody values ​​from a natural infection begin to decline.

"When that drop happens, then the vaccine achieves its full effect. If you have already developed high levels of antibodies from a natural infection, you have a good antibody response, the vaccine will not do anything special in terms of protection. Nothing bad will happen if someone receives the vaccine, there will be no negative outcome, but there will be no particularly significant positive effects of immunization," Gnjatovic added.

She stated that, when it comes to immunization of young people, vaccination is recommended for ages 16 and up, using the Pfizer vaccine because, she added, this vaccine is the only one approved for the population between 16 and 18, while other vaccines are for persons 18 and older.

She explained that if there was an infection with a larger amount of the virus that caused a more severe clinical picture, that kind of immunity has no competition.

"Immunity after severe forms of the disease will certainly last for several years. For now, we have data that it lasts for a year, that nothing has changed in the quantities of antibodies created, that there has been no reinfection in the group of  patients who had been seriously ill. So, good protection and defense is created after a natural infection," said Gnjatovic.

When it comes to milder forms of the disease, that is, when there was an infection with a smaller amount of the virus, she said that there are people who lose the antibody response after a few months.

She added that it is difficult to talk about whether protection is better after vaccination or after a natural infection.

"What is now clear, modern technology vaccines will protect for at least a year, and the vaccines in question are Pfizer, Sputnik V and AstraZeneca. It is possible that immunity after receiving the Sinopharm vaccine will be somewhat shorter, but also good," said Gnjatovic.

(Telegraf.rs)