Teens could get Pfizer vaccine at school - Doherty Institute
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22/07/2021 COVID vaccine Australia: Teens could get the Pfizer vaccine at school amid TGA push
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Policy Health And Education Coronavirus pandemic
Teens could get Pfizer vaccine at school
Jill
Jill
JillMargo
Margo
Margo and Tom
Tom
TomMcIlroy
McIlroy
McIlroy
Jul 20, 2021 – 6.17pm
Australia’s regulator is expediting an application to vary the approval of Pfizer’s
vaccine to include teens aged between 12 and 15.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration has already approved the Pfizer jab from
the age of 16. Many experts predict younger teens will inevitably be part of the
vaccine rollout as the
the
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riskequation
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equation and vaccination is the only way out of the current crisis.
There are other reasons too. “For children, the greatest harm of this pandemic has
been the closing of schools,” said Ben Marais, co-director of the Marie Bashir
Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity in Sydney.
https://www.afr.com/policy/health-and-education/teens-could-get-pfizer-vaccine-at-school-20210720-p58bcb 1/11
22/07/2021 COVID vaccine Australia: Teens could get the Pfizer vaccine at school amid TGA push
Professor Ben Marais says schools are well placed to provide vaccinations.
“With vaccination we can stop the repeated interruption of their education. Pfizer
has been shown to be safe in children aged 12-15 in the US and we can build on that
information.
“S h l h f t i d i i t ti i f t
https://www.afr.com/policy/health-and-education/teens-could-get-pfizer-vaccine-at-school-20210720-p58bcb t h ll th 2/1122/07/2021 COVID vaccine Australia: Teens could get the Pfizer vaccine at school amid TGA push
“Schools have perfect vaccine administration infrastructure – see how well they
administer the HPV vaccines – and we should just get on with it. While there
should be close and ongoing monitoring of possible rare adverse events, there has
been no safety signal of concern so far.”
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Professor Marais, who is also a paediatric infectious diseases clinician at The
Children’s Hospital at Westmead, says while teens have little to fear from COVID-19,
vaccination would still be preferable to them contracting the virus naturally.
“There’s no evidence of any irreversible side effects and I have no reservations
vaccinating teens. There is no evidence yet for children under 12.”
Pfizer is approved for teens in the US and the European Union. The UK has
approved it for teens but is only planning to give it to people just before their 18th
birthday.
For Terry Nolan, head of the Vaccine and Immunisation Research Group at
Melbourne’s Doherty Institute, the delta variant has changed the motivation for
vaccinating children.
While the original Wuhan strain was only modestly infectious in children and
didn’t produce very high levels of significant illness, the delta variant is much more
infectious in children and they could more readily infect unvaccinated or
susceptible adults and therefore help to propagate outbreaks.
Although vaccinating children is not an immediate priority, Professor Nolan sees
three reasons to vaccinate from the age of 12.
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First, it’s the only way to get enough of the population protected. Second, although
relatively uncommon in adolescents, severe illness can occur with COVID-19. Third,
it’s not known whether they will be affected by “long COVID” after contracting the
disease naturally.
https://www.afr.com/policy/health-and-education/teens-could-get-pfizer-vaccine-at-school-20210720-p58bcb 4/1122/07/2021 COVID vaccine Australia: Teens could get the Pfizer vaccine at school amid TGA push
Terry Nolan say the delta variant has changed the motivation for vaccinating children.
Those opposed
opposed
opposedto
to
tovaccinating
vaccinating
vaccinatingchildren
children
children say that as teens don’t usually get sick with
this virus, they shouldn’t be exposed to any extra risk of vaccination.
Professor Nolan, who is also a paediatric epidemiologist, says there isn’t enough
data to be definitive about that but, on the balance of probabilities, that’s not likely
to be an issue. “And the benefit to the whole population, and the kids themselves, is
a strong reason to immunise them.”
Tony Cunningham, director of the Centre for Virus Research at the Westmead
Institute for Medical Research, says when enough vaccines are available, he fully
expects 12- to 18-year-olds will be vaccinated “if all the trials are satisfactory – at the
moment we’ve only got results from Pfizer and Moderna”.
Although a lot more of the delta variant is being seen in younger age groups,
Professor Cunningham says teens are not the major spreaders or social mixers.
People aged 20-29 spread most, followed by those aged 30-39. Then come the
teens.
In this pandemic, the TGA has expedited all vaccine applications through its
provisional approval pathway. Should this application be approved, the Australian
Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, ATAGI, will advise on its rollout.
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https://www.afr.com/policy/health-and-education/teens-could-get-pfizer-vaccine-at-school-20210720-p58bcb 5/1122/07/2021 COVID vaccine Australia: Teens could get the Pfizer vaccine at school amid TGA push
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Health Minister Greg Hunt told the media on Tuesday that Pfizer’s application to
the TGA matched its application for approval from the FDA.
On receiving green lights from the TGA and ATAGI, he said the government would
follow the medical advice and begin the process.
The national rollout strategy already accommodates for this in phase three, which
allocates up to 13.6 million vaccine doses for people under 18 “if recommended”.
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Jill
Jill
JillMargo
Margo
Margo is the health editor. She writes about medicine and health from the Sydney office.
Jill has won multiple prizes, including two Walkley Awards and is an adjunct associate
professor of the University of NSW, Sydney. Connect with Jill on Twitter
Twitter.
Twitter Email Jill at
jmargo@afr.com
jmargo@afr.com
jmargo@afr.com
Tom
Tom
TomMcIlroy
McIlroy
McIlroy reports from the federal press gallery at Parliament House. Connect with Tom on
Twitter
Twitter.
Twitter Email Tom at thomas.mcilroy@afr.com
thomas.mcilroy@afr.com
thomas.mcilroy@afr.com
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