The Therapeutic Goods Administration announced on Sunday that it had provisionally approved the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for Australian children aged from five to 11.Speaking to the ABC on Monday, TGA head John Skerritt said there were “a lot of reasons” why children under 12 should get the jab.Professor Skerritt noted children were a major transmitter of the virus to older people at risk of dying from Covid-19.“Even though (kids) don’t get as sick as adults, they have a pretty strong role in spreading it back to family members,” he said. “Of course that can include parents and also of greater concern the grandparents. “The older you are, the impacts of getting seriously ill or worse with Covid is greater.”Professor Skerrit said the mental health effects of the pandemic on children was another issue that made vaccinating the under 12s age group so important.“The other reason is just so kids can do what kids are meant to do – go to the school, play with their friends, do sport, do exercise, do social things,” he said.“We are worried about the mental health impacts on all the lockdowns that children have had over the last couple of years.”Although children usually only experience a mild infection when they catch Covid-19, Professor Skerritt said kids would still be better off from physical health standpoint with the vaccine than without. “There’s about 1-in-3,000 children who even though they mightn’t get all that ill with Covid, have this long-term multi-system inflammatory syndrome,” he said.“Even when they recover from Covid, they can be quite ill for some months with fever, rash, intestinal, heart, neurological issues.“Even though it’s 1-in-3000 of those kids, it’s a very serious condition.” Once under 12s start receiving the jab from January 10 2022, parents can expect kids to experience similar side effects to adults who received the Pfizer jab.Subject to final consideration from expert immunisation panel ATAGI, and other related approvals, the government will start rolling out the Pfizer vaccine to under 12s from January 10 2022.The decision followed an “extensive” clinical trial of the jab involving almost 2500 children aged five to 11.Professor Skerrit said the adverse effects after the jab “appear to be the same as in older children, adolescents and adults.”Early tests also indicate that children under 12 are likely to experience less severe versions of the common side effects seen in adults. “There will be in the kids maybe sore arms, and maybe a quarter of kids might be feverish for a day or so, have a headache and be not feeling well,” Professor Skerritt said.“But they recover quickly.”
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