Pediatricians encourage vaccinating children against coronavirus in Panama

The Panamanian Society of Pediatrics highlighted this Thursday the benefits of vaccination against covid-19 in children from 5 to 11 years old, one day before the start of the day for the immunization of this population in Panama with the preparation of the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer.

“The Panamanian Society of Pediatrics recommends vaccination in children from 5 years of age with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine”, the union indicated in a statement, in which it stressed that “the benefits”Of this vaccination“ far outweigh the known and potential risks ”.

• Panama, which is experiencing the fourth pandemic wave, exceeds 500,000 cases of coronavirus
• Panama has registered at least 55 cases of the omicron variant
• Panama is experiencing a fourth pandemic wave driven by the omicron variant

Pediatricians assured that children have “Equal probabilities of being infected with covid-19 as adults”, and that “Secondarily they can suffer complications both in the short and long term, in addition to spreading the virus to other people at home, schools and in the community.”

Vaccinating children can help prevent them from becoming seriously ill from COVID-19 and also protect family members, including the youngest, who have not yet been immunized, or those who are at risk of becoming ill. seriously by the new coronavirus, argued the union.

“Vaccinating children 5 years of age and older can help keep them in school and safely participate in sports, games, and group activities.”stated the Pediatric Society.

He stressed that “so far more than 8 million children have been vaccinated” with the Pfizer vaccine “without having reported serious adverse events.”

Tomorrow, Friday, the vaccination of minors between 5 and 11 years old will start in Panama, starting with those who suffer from chronic diseases or disability. The Panamanian government ordered the purchase of 1.5 million doses from Pfizer, of which 60,000 have arrived.

The idea is to vaccinate as many children as possible before the start of classes on March 7, which will be face-to-face after having been developed remotely or in person during 2020 and 2021.

Panama, a country of 4.28 million inhabitants, is experiencing a fourth pandemic wave that is causing thousands of new daily cases of covid-19 when fewer than 500 were counted a month ago, a strong rebound that has not been reflected in deaths from the disease or hospitalizations.

As of Wednesday, the Central American country accumulated 507,779 confirmed infections and 7,445 deaths in almost 22 months of the pandemic.

Health authorities are betting on vaccination and biosecurity measures such as the use of a mask and physical distancing to combat this fourth pandemic wave, which is driven by the contagious omicron variant, which has community transmission.

As of January 28, three doses will be considered a complete vaccination scheme, not two as before, and it has already been announced that public employees must be vaccinated or, otherwise, present a negative covid-19 test every Monday.

81.6% of the target population, people 12 years of age and older, have received two doses and 90.6% one dose. In addition, 424,564 booster injections have been applied, authorized for those over 16 years of age, and 7,686 third doses to immunosuppressed patients.

With respect to the total population of Panama, about 35% have yet to be vaccinated, said the Minister of Health, Luis Francisco Sucre.

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Deshawn