Pediatricians to Call for Parents to Vaccinate Under-16s

The Israel Pediatric Association plans to issue a call to parents and family physicians to have children vaccinated as soon as Pfizer’s vaccine is approved for those under the age of 16, Kan News reported on Sunday.

The pediatric association is waiting on approval from regulators; meanwhile, pharmaceutical firms Pfizer and BioNTech asked for authorization Friday to use their coronavirus vaccine on 12- to 15-year-olds in the United States.

The letter will state that the vaccine is safe and effective for children and will help lower the infection rate in the country.

This latest letter comes after a separate missive signed by 93 doctors was issued calling on the government to suspend vaccination of children under the age of 16 until there is more data available about the coronavirus and the shot’s impact.

According to the doctors, it is still possible to completely reopen the economy even without vaccinating children, who have a lower chance of falling ill from the virus.

“It must be recognized that we do not understand everything about the virus, its antidote and that the first commandment of medicine is to ‘do no harm,'” the letter stated.

Previously, Pfizer reported that its vaccine was 100% effective in defending kids aged between 12 and 15 against the coronavirus.

Israel has seen its infection rates plummet following a record-setting vaccination drive.