Australia to Administer Pfizer Vaccine to Children Aged 5-11 Starting January... US Has Already Begun

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] Australia is considering allowing children under 12 to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

On the 14th, Greg Hunt, Australia's Minister for Health, appeared on ABC Australia's 'Insider' program and said that Australian medical regulatory authorities are reviewing the safety of the Pfizer vaccine for children under 12, adding, "We expect the review to be completed by early January next year." However, he added, "The review results depend on independent medical experts."

Regarding this, Major General John Frewen, head of Australia's COVID-19 task force, told the Australian daily The Age in an interview, "We have secured enough vaccine doses to vaccinate children."

Several countries worldwide have already implemented or are reviewing COVID-19 vaccinations for children. In the United States, after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) approved Pfizer vaccinations for children aged 5 to 11 on the 2nd, vaccinations for this group began.

China, which started vaccinating children aged 3 to 11 in October, plans to vaccinate all 160 million children aged 3 to 11 by the end of this year to achieve herd immunity ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympics next year.

Earlier, Cuba began vaccinating children aged 2 and older with its domestically developed vaccine 'Soberana 02' in September. Cuba is the first country to approve vaccinations for infants and toddlers.

Israel allowed Pfizer vaccinations for children aged 5 to 11 with underlying health conditions in July and is considering expanding this to all children aged 5 to 11.

Chile, Indonesia, Cambodia, Saudi Arabia, and others are also vaccinating children under 12.

Australia is one of the countries with the highest vaccination rates worldwide.

According to Australian health authorities, as of the 12th, 90% of people aged 16 and over have received at least one vaccine dose, and 83% have received two doses. The vaccination rate for adolescents aged 12 to 15 is also 57.7%.

Accordingly, Australia reopened its borders for the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak starting this month.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.