«The anti-Covid vaccination in children 5-11 years old is safe and effective, international data confirm this and give us guarantees. Children with chronic illnesses and frail children are particularly benefited from this vaccination because they are the ones who are most at risk from the disease. They risk in terms of complications, in terms of the risk of hospitalization, also in terms of late sequelae. Therefore, children with chronic diseases must be absolutely protected and no preliminary examinations or investigations are necessary for vaccination. Of course, as with other vaccinations, this cannot be performed if there are intercurrent febrile or infectious diseases. There are few children with chronic diseases who cannot carry out vaccination and they are those who undergo therapy with chemotherapy, with other products that reduce the immune response or who have ongoing diseases that can compromise the immune response such as, for example, some neoplastic diseases undergoing treatment. Only these categories of children are currently exempt from vaccination, all the others are not only susceptible to advantages and protection with vaccinations but must be motivated to do so “.
Could vaccination have long-term effects on children?
Giovanni Vitali Rosati, Sip Vaccination Technical Table, answers
“We have to distinguish two types of problems: one biological and one based on data. At the moment it is not possible to have it as we have to do a period of observation and follow-up long enough to be able to say what will happen later, in a few years or in several months. The trial we have available had a rather short follow-up during which no major side effects occurred, not even myocarditis. From a biological point of view, however, I can exclude that there may be long-term side effects. It is a hoax that the messenger mRNA remains in the vaccine and may in the long term go to give some alteration. We know, in fact, that this messenger mRNA once it enters our organism gives the message of the construction of the spike protein and then it is immediately destroyed, so there are no genetic alterations. From this point of view, therefore, maximum tranquility. From the point of view of the available data, however, we do not yet have them and therefore we will be able to answer this question well in some time ».
Do children who have contracted Covid have to get vaccinated?
Guido Castelli Gattinara, President of Sitip, Italian Society of Pediatric Infectious Disease, answers
“Yes, even children who have contracted Covid must be vaccinated. This is because it has been shown that the immunity that causes wild virus disease, that is, after infection, is not high enough to protect children for a long enough period. In studies that have been carried out in adults it has been found that immunity reaches much higher levels after vaccination and that the immune response is much more protective. So much so that there are scientific studies that have shown that vaccinated subjects become less infected after a first infection than those who have only had the infection. The antibody response is enhanced by vaccination, which is why even in children we must get vaccinated after Covid-19 infection. Of course, before vaccinating, we must wait for the clinical manifestations to have completely passed, for the quarantine to be over, for there to be no more demonstration of symptoms or the presence of viruses in circulation. Only one dose will suffice especially if it is taken within 6 months after infection. If, on the other hand, more than 6-12 months have passed, the children will be vaccinated like the others with the two standard doses at a distance of 3 weeks from each other “.