The Standing Vaccination Committee (Stiko) has recommended the corona vaccination for small children with previous illnesses. The basic immunization should be given to children aged six months to four years who have an increased risk of a severe course of Covid 19 due to “underlying diseases,” Stiko said on Thursday in Berlin. This applies to children who are extremely overweight, congenital heart defects, chronic lung or kidney diseases or trisomy 21. The recommendation also applies to children up to their second birthday who were born prematurely.
The panel of experts currently sees no reason to recommend vaccinations for healthy children in this age group without previous illnesses. Severe courses are very rare in this age group, and the vast majority of infections in healthy children are mild or without symptoms.
For vaccination, children should preferably receive three doses of the children’s vaccine from Biontech and Pfizer at least three or eight weeks apart from the previous vaccination. Two doses of vaccine are recommended for children who have already had a corona infection.
The pediatric vaccine Spikevax from Moderna is currently not available in Germany in the dosage prescribed for small children.
The European Medicines Agency approved vaccines from Biontech and Moderna for infants and toddlers in October. Accordingly, lower doses of the vaccines are recommended for small children than for adults.