Friday November 18, 2022 – Author:
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STIKO recommends a full Covid-19 vaccination for children aged 6 months to 4 years with underlying diseases. This also applies to premature babies who have not yet completed their second year of life.
The STIKO (Standing Vaccination Committee) recommends that children from 6 months to 4 years of age who have an increased risk of developing a severe course of Covid-19 due to underlying diseases should be fully vaccinated with an mRNA vaccine approved for this age group.
Relevant pre-existing conditions include obesity, heart disease, chronic lung and kidney disease, high blood pressure, severe asthma, poorly controlled diabetes, immune deficiency and immune suppression. Premature babies who have not yet completed the second year of life are also at increased risk of a severe course and should therefore be vaccinated.
Recommended for vaccination Comirnaty children’s vaccine
For the vaccination the Comirnaty children’s vaccine should preferably be used (3 vaccine doses, each 3 μg, at least 3 and 8 weeks apart from the previous vaccination). Alternatively, the children’s vaccine Spikevax can be used (2 vaccine doses, each 25 μg, at least 4 weeks apart). However, this is currently not available in Germany in the dosage prescribed for small children.
STIKO recommends that children who have already undergone a laboratory-diagnosed SARS-CoV-2 infection reduce the vaccination series by one dose (i.e. two Comirnaty vaccine doses or one Spikevax vaccine dose).
For which children from 6 months to 4 years Covid-19 vaccination is advisable
In children with immunodeficiency who have undergone a SARS-CoV-2 infection, a decision should be made on a case-by-case basis as to whether a full vaccination series should be administered. This largely depends on the type and severity of the immune deficiency.
The STIKO currently does not recommend a Covid-19 vaccination for children with a healthy immune system from 6 months to 4 years without previous illnesses, because severe courses are very rare in this age group and the vast majority of infections in healthy children are mild or asymptomatic.
Which applies to the age group 5 to 11 years
Primary immunization with 2 vaccine doses and up to 2 booster vaccinations is recommended for children aged 5 to 11 who have an increased risk of developing a severe course of Covid-19 due to underlying diseases.
In view of the high seroprevalence and the predominantly mild course of the disease, the STIKO does not currently consider it necessary to complete the basic immunization for healthy children in this age group – i.e. booster vaccinations. At the individual request of children and parents or legal guardians, the full Covid-19 basic immunization can be carried out later medical education take place.
Children up to 11 years of age who come into contact with vulnerable people
This applies to children under the age of 12 who come into contact with vulnerable people: The vaccination only protects against transmission of the omicron variant for a short period of time. Therefore, the STIKO advises that after individual consideration and taking into account the wishes of the parents, a decision should be made as to whether vaccination should be carried out with the aim of preventing possible infection.