Pfizer vaccine approved for children

SOUTH Africa’s health regulator has allowed for children as young as 12 to receive the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine.

On Friday, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) said the approval followed a submission by Pfizer on the safety of the vaccine for that age group.

Sahpra said the two-shot vaccine would be administered the same as for those in the older age groups.

It has also approved the trial of the two-dose Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine to be tested on children aged between 6 months and 17 years.

About 2 000 children in South Africa are participating, with the first child receiving the vaccine on Friday in Pretoria. Other countries participating in the trial are Kenya, Malaysia, Chile and the Philippines.

Foster Mohale, the national spokesperson for the Department of Health, said they have not yet taken a decision to give children the Pfizer vaccine, but that was under discussion. He said the focus now was on high-risk individuals.

“There was no immediate decision to expand the vaccination roll-out programme to include people under the age of 18 at the moment because the government’s primary target group remains people 50 years and older.”

Mohale said an official announcement on a possible next phase would be made once all the processes had been concluded.

While addressing the nation on Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa encouraged all those eligible to vaccinate. He said the sooner everyone was vaccinated, the sooner the country could return to normal.

He said 57% of people over the age of 60 were vaccinated, and that more women than men had got the jab.

Ramaphosa said more than 7 million people had been fully vaccinated and that the country was administering a million doses every four to five days.

The country was then placed under adjusted level 2 lockdown. The curfew is now from 11pm to 4am, and indoor gatherings have been extended to 250, and outdoor events to 500.

“The day will soon come when we can gather again without restrictions, fill stadiums and music venues, travel and move about freely without the fear of becoming ill or losing our loved ones …

“Let us make it our mission to vaccinate as many people as we can so that we can move ahead with the task of rebuilding our economy and our lives.”

The number of confirmed Covid cases in South Africa is more than 2.8 million – with more than 84 000 deaths.