On December 27th, COVID-19 vaccination started in Spain. In view of the uncertainty as to how the doses will be administered and whether children will also be vaccinated, Dr. Giménez Sánchez, a pediatrician specializing in infectious diseases and vaccines, explains what the COVID-19 vaccine, which has already begun to be administered in Spain, is like and how we should behave after vaccination.
Dr. Giménez Sánchez values the vaccine positively, taking into account that this first vaccination has the fundamental objective of reducing the mortality of the people most susceptible to suffer a COVID-19 disease, such as the elderly and those with chronic diseases. In addition, he indicates that this first phase of vaccination should be aimed at people who are institutionalized in nursing homes and the people who care for them in order to try to close the circle or stop the very high mortality rates we are having due to COVID-19.
As for children, no clinical trials have yet been carried out in children to check whether the efficacy of this vaccine is the same in children as in adults. However, the specialist indicates that in the coming weeks or months it is expected to have data on the application of the vaccine in children, not only of the Pfizer vaccine but also of the other vaccines. “It is something that is being worked on. It is expected that this vaccine will also have a good response in children. Therefore, in a few phases after the current one, children should be vaccinated” Dr. Giménez Sánchez.
Although healthy children are not a risk group for the disease at this time, they will probably be given the same doses as adults, between two or one depending on the vaccine.
How effective is the COVID-19 vaccine?
Dr. Giménez Sánchez points out that it is not yet possible to say that after vaccination we can dispense with new vaccines against COVID-19, since we do not know the duration of immunity of the vaccine. Only the time of the different studies carried out on this duration will tell us whether the vaccines we have available now confer lasting protection or, on the contrary, not. Furthermore, another important focus of attention is not only the response of the vaccine but also the mutation of the virus. Therefore, we will have to follow it very closely and check the efficacy of the vaccines with respect to its mutations, although for now they have proven to be effective against COVID-19 and its different mutations.
The good news is that in the coming months we will have more vaccines available, not only the Pfizer vaccine, but also three others that will be able to provide us with new data. Finally, the doctor reminds us that each person can respond better or worse to a type of vaccine and this is something that we have to evaluate before administering it, as each vaccine will probably be indicated for different groups.