Bring in the kids: Estonian city targets youths for jabs

TARTU – With her begetter successful tow, 13-year-old Gloria Raudjarv marched done a vaccination halfway wrong a sports hallway successful Estonia’s second-largest metropolis and up to a caregiver for her archetypal dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

So far, astir fractional of Tartu's teenagers from 12 to 17 person already received their archetypal vaccine shot, and section wellness officials are moving to scope 70% by the clip schoolhouse resumes connected Sept. 1.

“I truly privation to spell to schoolhouse already, we person been region learning for truthful long,” she said, gripping her vaccination certificate.

Two months aft the European Medicines Agency recommended that the coronavirus vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech beryllium expanded to children 12 to 15, ample disparities successful the entree to vaccination are being seen for youths crossed Europe. Last week, the EU cause regulator besides cleared the vaccine made by Moderna for the aforesaid property group.

While countries similar Estonia, Denmark and France are actively encouraging families to vaccinate their children earlier the caller schoolhouse twelvemonth begins, others specified arsenic Sweden and the United Kingdom person yet to statesman wide vaccinations for those nether 18.

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The World Health Organization, meanwhile, has said that children are not a precedence for vaccination fixed the highly constricted planetary supplies and the information that they look a importantly little hazard of terrible illness and death. It has urged affluent countries to halt vaccinating children and donate their doses to the processing satellite instead.

But arsenic the highly transmissible delta variant creates caller infections adjacent arsenic vaccination rates emergence among adults successful Europe, determination are fears that young radical volition present accelerate the dispersed of the virus.

Maria Theodoridou, caput of the Greece’s National Vaccination Committee, said a important summation has been noted successful the past fewer weeks successful Greece of affirmative cases successful children and adolescents.

“Children and adolescents, arsenic we know, are a root of dispersed of the virus,” Theodoridou said, adding that those astir astatine hazard were the radical successful the children’s situation who were unvaccinated.

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Children getting infected “will pb to caller variants and to a simplification successful the effectiveness of the vaccines,” she warned.

Vaccination remains voluntary for children successful Europe but successful Denmark, wherever much than a 3rd of each children 12 to 15 are getting their archetypal dose, wellness officials are hoping parents volition output to recommendations for each to get vaccinated earlier returning to class.

In France, wherever a 3rd of each children from 12 to 17 person received astatine slightest 1 dose, the French acquisition curate prompted disapproval this week for announcing that starting successful September, unvaccinated students successful that property radical would beryllium sent location from schoolhouse if anyone successful their people gets COVID-19.

Critics said this would make a two-tier acquisition strategy and unfairly discriminate against children whose parents are anti-vaccine. WHO has said children bash not request to beryllium immunized arsenic agelong arsenic the at-risk adults astir them, including teachers and parents, are protected.

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In the U.S., conscionable a 4th of those 12 to 15 who got entree to Pfizer’s vaccine starting successful May person had their 2nd dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Among U.S. teens 16 and 17, astir 37% are afloat vaccinated.

In Estonia, wherever younker vaccination campaigns are tally by municipalities, the accelerated rollout successful Tartu is credited to a beardown outreach run via schools and societal media, casual registration procedures and an educated population. Tartu is simply a assemblage and probe town.

For the teenagers themselves, it’s mostly astir seeing their friends again. Estonia’s schools person been closed for in-school learning since February, with immoderate exceptions for the youngest children and those sitting exams.

Gloria, who is entering 7th people and aspires to beryllium a singer, is looking guardant to returning to the schoolhouse stage.

“Contacts, interactions, discussions, but besides the alteration of environment, getting retired from location to spell to schoolhouse is truly important,” said Ott Maidre, a biology teacher astatine the city's Hugo Treffner Gymnasium, who misses face-to-face teaching.

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With much than 3,100 teenagers already vaccinated and different 4 weeks to spell earlier schoolhouse resumes, Tartu’s Vice Mayor Mihkel Lees is assured the metropolis volition scope its 70% vaccination extremity for students 12 to 17 by Sept. 1

If not, they person Plan B.

“In lawsuit we can’t vaccinate capable kids and younker astatine the vaccination halfway during the summer,” helium said, “school nurses volition articulation in.”

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Contributors see Jill Lawless and Maria Cheng from London, Elena Becatoros successful Athens, Angela Charlton successful Paris and David Keyton successful Stockholm, Sweden.

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