Top paediatrician says 2 doses of mRNA vaccine enough to protect children

One of Thailand’s top paediatricians says there’s no need to give children a cocktail of an inactivated vaccine dose and an mRNA dose. Instead, Somsak Lolekha from the Paediatric Society of Thailand says 2 doses of an mRNA vaccine are enough to protect children from becoming severely ill with Covid-19. He adds that booster doses are not necessary for most children, with the exception of those with underlying health conditions, whose immunity may be compromised.

Thailand’s Public Health Ministry has previously recommended that children between the ages of 12 and 17 be given a mix of 1 dose of Sinovac followed by a dose of the Pfizer mRNA vaccine. According to a Nation Thailand report, Somsak says that while the cocktail does equate to the same level of protection as 2 doses of Pfizer, he believes it’s not necessary, given that Thailand now has enough doses of Pfizer. He adds that younger children, between the ages of 6 and 11, should also be given 2 doses of an mRNA vaccine, instead of the health ministry’s cocktail.

In related news, recent data from the US and Canada shows that there should be an interval of 8 weeks and not 4 between children receiving their first and second dose of Pfizer. The 8-week gap has been shown to provide children with 10 times more immunity and also reduces the risk of myocarditis, or heart inflammation, a rare side-effect reported in some children who received an mRNA vaccine.

SOURCE: Nation Thailand