COVID-19 Vaccination of Children Begins in Iceland
Chief Epidemiologist Þórólfur Guðnason. mbl.is/Arnþór
COVID-19 vaccination of children aged 12-15 has begun nationwide in Iceland. In the capital area, it began yesterday. Children born in 2006 and 2007 will be vaccinated at the Laugardalshöll sports center, Reykjavík, today, mbl.is reports. The vaccination schedule for the capital area can be viewed here . The vaccine used is Pfizer/BioNTech.
From Laugardalshöll sports center. mbl.is/Kristinn Magnússon
Icelandic health authorities do recommend that children be vaccinated. Chief Epidemiologist Þórólfur Guðnason states that the goal of the vaccination is to protect children from the coronavirus’ serious effects and to reduce the spread of the virus in society.
Minister of Health Svandís Svavarsdóttir. mbl.is/Kristinn Magnússon
He adds that no serious side effects from the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in this age group were encountered in the research on which the marketing authorization was based.
Þórólfur notes that the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, ECDC, has pointed out that serious illness among children from the Delta variant of the coronavirus is more widespread than from previous variants. Therefore, he states, vaccinating children is the right thing to do.
