The scientific-technical committee of
Italian medicines agency AIFA is meeting on Wednesday to start
examining whether to approve giving COVID-19 vaccines to
children aged five to 11 after the European Medicines Agency
(EMA) gave the green light.
"We have always approved what EMA approved, often within hours,"
AIFA President Giorgio Palù told RAI television on Tuesday.
"I'd say there is no urgency in this case because the vaccine
preparations are still yet to arrive.
"These are a third of the doses that adolescents have and so the
vaccines will arrive towards the middle of December".
Palù said he was in favour of vaccinating children in this age
range.
"COVID is becoming an paediatric disease," he said.
"The incidence has gone from 3% to 30% in the USA.
"The (Italian) Higher Health Institute figures say that the
five-to-11 age range has the most frequent case incidence.
"That's not all. There is a risk of being hospitalized for one
child in 100 who contract the infection".
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