Covid-19 Vaccine For Children: Which Countries Have Allowed Vaccines For All Age Groups

Amid rising countries due to the Omicron variant, countries around the world have started expanding their Covid-19 vaccination programmes to include young children.

Representational image (Source: Getty)

New Delhi: India will begin COVID vaccination of children aged 15 to 18 from January 3, 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Saturday. The "precaution dose" for healthcare and frontline workers will be administered from January 10, 2022.

The Prime Minister said that people above 60 years of age with comorbidities will be able to get precautionary doses of Covid-19 vaccines from January 10, 2022.

In India, such a dose is called a ‘precaution dose’, and not a booster dose, according to a statement by the Prime Minister’s office.

Amid rising countries due to the Omicron variant, countries around the world have started expanding their Covid-19 vaccination programmes to include young children.

Following is the list of countries that have approved or are considering vaccination for children:

Asia-Pacific

• The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has given emergency use approval to Bharat Biotech's vaccine, Covaxin, for children aged 12 to 18, ABP News reported.
• India approved Cadila’s jab for emergency use in children above 12 years of age. However, it is yet to be rolled out.
• Two Sinopharm and one Sinovac vaccine for children as young as three have been approved in China. The Zheijang province in China aims to finish vaccinating children aged three to 11 by December.
• In Hong Kong, the age limit for Sinovac’s vaccine was lowered to three in late November.
• From January, Singapore hopes to extend vaccines to children aged five to 11. Malaysia intends to buy Pfizer’s vaccine for the same age group.
• The Sinovac vaccine for children over six has been authorised in Indonesia.
• South Korea, Australia, and the Philippines are vaccinating children aged 12 and above. Australia will start vaccinating younger children from January next year.
• According to an AP report in late October, Vietnam began vaccinating teenagers aged 16 and 17.

Americas

• Cuba is administering vaccines to children as young as two. The country aims to fully vaccinate 90 per cent of its population by December.
• In early November, Venezuela said it is vaccinating children aged two to 11 with Cuba's Soberana 2 vaccine.
• Children as young as three in Argentina are being vaccinated with Sinopharm’s shot.
• In September, Chile and El Salvador started vaccinating children aged six to 11.
• Covid-19 vaccination for children aged five and above has been made mandatory in Costa Rica.
• On November 2, US children aged five to 11 were recommended for Covid-19 vaccines.
• Mexico announced it would start vaccinating 15-year-old children. Days after this announcement, Canada authorised Pfizer’s vaccine for children aged five to 11 on November 19.
• In June, Brazil approved Pfizer’s vaccine for 12-year-olds.
• Pfizer, AstraZenenca, Moderna, Sinopharm and J&J vaccines are being offered for people aged 12 and above in Columbia. Children as young as six are being inoculated with Sinovac’s shot in Eucador.

European Union

• Countries in the European Union started rolling out Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for children aged five to 11 from December this year.
• On December 1, Italy approved vaccinations for children aged five to 11. Meanwhile, France’s regulator backed this for high-risk children aged five to 11.
• Czech Radio reported that the Czech Republic had preordered shots for as many as 700,000 children aged five to 11. In mid-May, Hungary started vaccinating people aged 16 to 18.
• After approving shots for teenagers in August, Germany will likely offer jabs to children under 12 from 2022, according to media reports.
• Estonia, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Spain, Sweden, and Finland are offering shots to children aged 12 and above.
• According to government data dated November 28, around 63 per cent of Dutch children aged 12 to 17 are fully vaccinated.

Non-European Union Countries Of Europe

• Earlier, a second dose was open only to vulnerable people aged 12 to 15 in Britain. Now, Britain’s vaccine committee has recommended a second dose for all children belonging to this age group.
• In June, Switzerland approved vaccinating 12 to 15-year-olds with the Pfizer vaccine. Two months later, the country approved the Moderna vaccine for children belonging to the same age group.
• In September, Norway started offering one dose of Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine to children aged 12-15.
• In late December, Russia expects to make a new vaccine available for children aged 12 to 17.

The Middle East And Africa

• Sinopharm vaccine for children aged 3-11 has been approved in Bahrain
• Countries like Israel, Oman, and Saudi Arabia have approved Pfizer's shot for children as young as five. Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have approved Pfizer’s shot for children as young as five for emergency use.
• Children aged 12 and above are being vaccinated in Jordan, Morocco, Guinea, Namibia and South Africa.
• All 14-year-old children are eligible for Covid-19 shots in Zimbabwe.
• In early November, Egypt said it would begin vaccinating children aged 15 to 18 using the Pfizer vaccine.

 (With Reuters and agency inputs)