Fez – China has expanded its national vaccination campaign to include children aged 3-11. The decision is part of the country’s mass vaccination program with the objective of reaching herd immunity.
In June, China approved the Sinovac vaccine for children between 3 and 17 years old. The vaccine is mostly administered to young children suffering from certain health problems. The first round of the vaccination program included children aged over 12 years.
Recently, the provincial governments of Fujian, Hainan, Hubei, Hunan, and Zhejiang provinces decided to expand the vaccination to include all children aged between 3-11, making vaccination compulsory for school attendance.
According to Chinese health officials, children aged 3-12 will receive two doses of the Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccine, consecutively separated by three weeks.
The vice director of the Zhejiang Health Commission, Xia Shichang, said that the 5.5 million children within the specified age group will receive their first vaccine dose by November 20 and the second by December 20.
The US is also planning to extend its vaccination campaign to include children. The Biden administration has announced preparations for the mass vaccination of children once the vaccine is approved for those aged 5-11.
The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine is expected to be administered to this age group in the US as early as the first week of November.
China and the US are joining the ranks of those countries that have already started vaccinating children at a very young age. On September 16, Cuba began administering its homegrown Abdala and Soberana vaccines to children aged 2-10.
Cambodia followed suit on September 17 and started vaccinating children aged 6-12 with Sinovac. The country is now planning a third booster dose, given that it is one of the world’s most vaccinated countries.
On September 27, Chile began administering Sinovac vaccinations to children aged 6 to 11. Since early August, the UAE has also been administering China’s Sinopharm to children aged 3-17.
