Should Your Kids Be Vaccinated Against Covid-19?
The U.K. is offering a single shot for children aged 12-to-15. While young people are least at risk, the move by the government of Boris Johnson makes sense.
A 13-year old gets a dose in the U.S.
Photographer: JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFPThe U.K. has decided to offer inoculations against Covid-19 to children aged 12 to 15 — but with just one shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Some may wonder why it’s not simply following what the majority of countries are doing: using the two doses that a Phase III trial has shown to have a 100% efficacy in preventing an infection. It’s not the first time the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tinkered with vaccine doses. It had taken a gamble on using an extended dose interval in adults — as many as 12 weeks, in contrast to other countries, which had three weeks for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and four weeks for the Moderna version.
That previous decision, of which I was initially critical, has been vindicated not only by the drop in hospitalizations and deaths, but also by the finding that an extended interval is potentially more effective in preventing infection. I believe that this latest decision on children makes a lot of sense and could be a blueprint for others to follow.