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Christchurch (New Zealand), June 22
New Zealand drug regulator Medsafe has granted interim approval of the Pfizer vaccine for young people aged 12 to 15, and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern expects cabinet approval to follow next week.
Once cabinet approves, 12-15 year olds will become eligible for vaccination towards the end of the year, after older groups have had their turn.
Although children are at lower risk of serious illness or death from Covid than older people, getting them vaccinated is still essential for two reasons.
First, if children catch the virus, they can pass it on to other people, including high-risk groups or people who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons. Several countries have seen epidemics start in young people and spread to older groups, causing significant hospitalizations and deaths.
Second, although the risk of death is very low, children can still suffer from significant long-term health complications from Covid, often referred to as Long Covid. It has been shown to affect a significant proportion of people, even in the youngest age groups.
Medsafe’s approval is based on strong data showing that the vaccine is safe and highly effective for this age group. It follows similar movements in Europe, the United States and Canada.
Vaccinating adolescents reduces their risk of getting sick and passing the virus on to others. By getting vaccinated, we protect not only ourselves, but also those around us.
How children fit into New Zealand’s deployment plan
In New Zealand, 265,000 children are aged 12 to 15, representing just over 5% of the population. Add that to the 80% who are over 16, and the Pfizer vaccine now has Medsafe approval for use in 85% of the population. This is good news because we will need very high vaccination rates to have any chance of achieving popular immunity (sometimes called herd immunity).
The vaccine is not mandatory and it is likely that not everyone will want to take it. This means that we might need to immunize some children in the younger age groups. Trials are currently underway to assess whether the vaccine is appropriate for children aged six to 11. Chief Health Officer Ashley Bloomfield said Medsafe will review trial results once available.
There is a strong relationship between age and the risk of severe Covid. It makes sense that the general rollout starts with the elderly and gradually moves through the age brackets, as Ardern announced last week. There may be exceptions – teens living with border workers or who have underlying health issues might be offered the vaccine earlier in the rollout.
There are other risk factors as well. We know that due to long-standing systemic racism in the healthcare system, Maori and Pacific people are at a higher risk of needing hospital treatment for Covid. Therefore, equitable deployment should ensure that Maori and Pacific communities are prioritized for rapid access to the vaccine.
Towards collective immunity
Right now, New Zealand’s people are like a pile of dry kindling: sparks of Covid from countries around the world are constantly threatening to set it ablaze. Vaccinating our people is like spraying that pile of kindling with a hose.
For starters, the wood is still dry enough that a spark landing in the wrong spot can ignite it. But eventually, once the wood is damp enough, there may be a bit of smoldering here and there, but the fire will not be able to take off.
The government has laid out its end of the bargain: the plan is to deliver the vaccine to everyone by the end of the year. Ardern said New Zealand’s pre-purchase orders for the Pfizer vaccine will provide enough doses for the remainder of the year to provide two doses for 12-15 year olds with no one else missing.
Now it’s up to all of us to do our part and get vaccinated when our turn comes. Everyone who gets vaccinated contributes to our collective immunity to the virus.
The higher our collective immunity, the better protected we will be as a community and the more options we have to allow safe international travel to resume. Immunizing young people will be an important part of that effort and this latest announcement marks an important step on the long road to ending the Covid pandemic. PTI
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