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With the recent increase in the number of confirmed children, the quarantine authorities plan to have children aged 5 to 11 receive the corona vaccine as early as next month.

The Pfizer vaccine is planned to be administered in two doses in slightly smaller doses than the adult dose, but parents are complicated.



Reporter Park Soo-jin reported.



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At the Corona Medical Consultation Center dedicated to infants and children, calls for home treatment consultations are not ending these days.



[(When did (child) start to get sick?) I had a fever since yesterday morning.

(But what symptoms did you have before that?) There were no other precursors.]



As Omicron spread, the number of confirmed children who were not vaccinated increased significantly.



The number of confirmed cases under the age of 9 gradually increased, reaching 282.8 per 100,000 people last week, the highest among all age groups.



This spread was also affected by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's approval of the Pfizer vaccine for the ages of 5-11 after two months of preliminary review.



Pfizer's vaccine for ages 5-11 is the same type of vaccine as that licensed for children 12 years of age and older, but at one-third the dose and administered twice three weeks apart.



In clinical trials, the preventive effect was more than 90%.



After inoculation, there were mild symptoms such as pain at the injection site, redness, and fatigue, but no serious adverse reactions such as myocarditis were found.



But parents who are about to get vaccinated are complicated.



[Mother of an 8-year-old child: It's half and half actually.

I don't know what this is for sure, if safety is guaranteed, but that's a case-by-case thing.

Each person (symptoms after vaccination) is different.]



[Mother of a 7-year-old child: I think we should give a choice.

You're still too young.

I don't know what the side effects might be.

Because the immune system is not properly established yet.]



The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will announce the specific vaccination period and target next month.



Experts recommend staggering other essential vaccinations for children under 11 years of age, such as the flu vaccine.



(Video editing: Choi Eun-jin, CG: Park Cheon-woong, VJ: Shin So-young·Oh Se-kwan)



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