At the end of February, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) gave a positive opinion on the use of the Moderna vaccine in children aged 6 to 11 years. Minister of Health Ernst Kuipers then asked the Health Council for advice.
Not enough is known about the risk of inflammation of the heart muscle or the pericardium after an injection with Moderna in children under 12 years of age, according to the council. Such inflammations are included in the package insert of the Moderna vaccine.
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is already being used to vaccinate children aged 5 to 11 years. At the end of last year, the Health Council recommended that this be made possible. At that time, only Pfizer’s vaccine was still approved for use in children in that age group.