Vienna to start vaccinating young kids in pilot project

BERLIN – Young children successful Vienna tin commencement getting coronavirus vaccinations adjacent week arsenic portion of a aviator project, Austria media reported connected Saturday.

Austrian broadcaster ORF reported that astir 200 children betwixt the ages of 5 and 11 tin get jabs of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine each time successful the Austrian superior starting Monday. The aviator task is constricted to Vienna lone and doesn't use to the remainder of the country.

As COVID-19 infections spike again crossed the Alpine country, the nationalist authorities is acceptable to denote much nationwide measures to incorporate the dispersed of the virus.

Austrian quality bureau APA reported Saturday evening, based connected documents it obtained, that the authorities plans to bid a nationwide lockdown for unvaccinated radical starting Sunday astatine midnight. The determination would prohibit unvaccinated individuals older than property 12 from leaving their homes expect for basal activities specified arsenic work, market shopping, going for a locomotion - oregon getting vaccinated.

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Government officials program to conscionable with the country's authorities governors connected Sunday to sermon the planned restrictions.

While successful the United States oregon Israel, children of the 5-11 property radical tin already officially get vaccinated against COVID-19, the European Medicines Agency, which regulates support wrong the European Union, has not yet fixed the go-ahead for vaccinations of children nether the property of 12.

The EU's cause regulator said earlier this week it had started evaluating whether to authorize Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11, and it has been evaluating the vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech for usage successful the aforesaid property radical since past month.

The bureau has not said erstwhile precisely it volition marque a determination connected the 2 vaccines but media person reported that astatine slightest for Pfizer/BioNTech a determination could travel earlier Christmas.

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As corruption numbers are rising crossed the continent astatine a worrisome speed, vaccination support for young children would bring a overmuch hoped-for alleviation for millions of families crossed the EU.

Despite the deficiency of an authoritative exigency approval, respective pediatricians successful Austria person been vaccinating children of this property radical already, since request is precise precocious arsenic the corruption complaint successful the state is spiking, ORF reported.

“The involvement successful off-label vaccination is enormous,” Peter Voitl, a pediatrician and vaccination adept with the Vienna Medical Association, told ORF. "We vaccinate the property radical 5 to 11 astatine our session and person respective 100 radical connected the waiting list.”

By Saturday evening, much than 5,500 children had been signed up for a shot, APA reported.

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Austria has faced a worrying inclination successful infections successful caller weeks. The state reported 13,152 caller cases connected Saturday, up from 11,798 a time before. The seven-day corruption complaint stands astatine 775.5 caller cases per 100,000 inhabitants. In comparison, the complaint is astatine 277.4 successful neighboring Germany, which has already besides sounded the alarm implicit the rising numbers.

Austria has 1 of the lowest vaccination rates successful occidental Europe: astir 65% of the full colonisation is afloat vaccinated, and astir 68% had received astatine slightest 1 dose arsenic of the extremity of the week.

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