An advisory board to the US health authority CDC has recommended corona vaccinations for children under the age of twelve with the vaccine from Biontech / Pfizer.

The CDC's Vaccination Committee unanimously reached its recommendation on Tuesday.

An official vaccination recommendation from the CDC is now necessary so that the vaccination campaign for children between the ages of five and eleven can start in the USA.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted the vaccine emergency approval for this age group last week.

The administration of US President Joe Biden has announced that it will immediately start a vaccination campaign for five to eleven year olds after the publication of a vaccination recommendation.

Most recently, the government ordered a further 50 million vaccine doses for children from Biontech and Pfizer.

So far, only a handful of countries, including China, Chile, Cuba and the United Arab Emirates, each administer approved vaccines to younger children.

The Biontech vaccine is administered twice to five to eleven year olds at a dose of ten micrograms each.

The usual dosage is 30 micrograms each.

According to Pfizer, the protection against Covid 19 disease through vaccination in five to eleven year olds is 90.7 percent.

Children are less affected by the coronavirus than adults, but the virus can also be dangerous for them.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, a total of 1.9 million corona infections have been registered in children between the ages of five and eleven in the USA and more than 8,300 children in this age group have been hospitalized with Covid 19.

There were therefore more than a hundred deaths.

In addition, there were more than 2,300 cases of multisystem inflammation syndrome in children, a rare but very serious coronavirus aftermath, which was fatal in 46 cases.

Side effects extremely rare

Health officials should continue to watch out for possible serious side effects of the vaccine, such as myocarditis, in children.

The clinical studies have so far been too small to reliably describe these risks.

However, it is assumed that such side effects are extremely rare because there is a connection with testosterone levels.

The coronavirus itself probably causes significantly more heart muscle inflammation, depending on the transmission rate.

The Biontech / Pfizer vaccine already has emergency approval in the United States for children and adolescents aged twelve and over and full approval for people aged 16 and over.

The companies have also applied for approval of their vaccine for five to eleven year olds in the EU.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) could decide on this by Christmas.