Vaccination programs for children aged between 5 and 11 kicked off in some European countries on Wednesday in a bid to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Hungary, Spain, Lithuania, Greece, Slovenia and Germany were among those that started their COVID-19 vaccination campaigns for kids, whereas Latvia is to start its own program for kids in the second part of the week.
In Hungary, the first delivery of 138,000 vaccine doses for children arrived on Tuesday, and will be administered in a total of 77 hospitals across the country.
So far, 38,000 people in Hungary have registered for their children to be immunized, according to the official government website. Minors are only given the Pfizer vaccine.
Spain also began its campaign to vaccinate around 3.3 million children aged between 5 and 11 on Wednesday. The age group currently has the highest 14-day incidence of COVID-19 in Spain, with 646.64 cases per 100,000 reported by the Spanish Ministry of Health on Tuesday.
The first shipment of 1.3 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, specially-adapted for children, arrived in Spain on Monday. Each Spanish region has the freedom to decide its own vaccination program, but most have opted to begin vaccinating children aged 10 and 11, before the younger age groups.
Just as in Hungary, children will receive two doses of the vaccine, with the second dose administered eight weeks after the first.
In Lithuania, the vaccination of children aged 5-11 started on Wednesday. Around 2,000 children have already been registered for vaccination, and will receive two shots three weeks apart - as recommended by the European Medicines Agency.
Latvia has received its first batch of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines for children aged 5 to 11, with the vaccination campaign due to start later this week. Vaccination of both children and adults remains optional in the country.
Vaccination of children aged 5-11 with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine also started on Wednesday in Greece.
Since Oct.10, parents in Greece have been able to register for vaccination of children 5-11. So far, 29,000 children have been registered.
In Germany and Slovenia, the program has already started. Germany launched its COVID-19 vaccination campaign for children on Monday, and Slovenia started the program on Tuesday.
Pediatricians in Slovenia particularly recommended vaccination for children with chronic diseases, and those who are in contact with high-risk persons.
Meanwhile, Germany launched its vaccination campaign for this age group children on Monday. However, the vaccine is only offered to children with pre-existing conditions, based on the recommendation of the country's Standing Committee on Vaccination.
This week, low-dose Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines will be distributed to pediatricians and vaccination centers in all federal states, the German Ministry of Health said.
According to the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) in Germany, the country's pediatricians have ordered around 800,000 vaccine doses for children this week, which are to be delivered by Wednesday at the latest.
