The first country to make vaccination against the Corona virus mandatory for children .. and other countries may follow suit

Weather of Arabia - An increasing number of countries are expanding their vaccination programs against the Corona virus to include children, and Costa Rica has become the first country in the world to make vaccination against the Corona virus mandatory for children.

The country signed a deal with Pfizer to obtain doses to start vaccinating all children under 12 years of age as of March 2022.

Costa Rica's deal with Pfizer will see it obtain 3.5 million doses, of which 1.5 million will be reserved for those aged 5 to 11, and the others will be for the third doses that will be given to first responders, the elderly, and people with weakened immunity.

Earlier this week, US health regulators approved the Pfizer vaccine for children aged 5 to 11, after US health officials recently voted to recommend a dose of the Pfizer vaccine for children.

But there are some major differences in the policy of vaccinating children against the Corona virus from one country to another.

China

The Sinovac vaccine is approved for children over three years old, and in June, China agreed to give the Sinovac vaccine to some children aged 3 to 17 years.

In theory, the Covid-19 vaccine is optional in China, but some local authorities have announced that students will not be allowed to return to school in the next semester, unless all members of their family have received two doses of the vaccine.

Europe

In May, the European Medicines Agency approved the Pfizer vaccine for children aged 12 to 15 years. Since then, the European Union has moved at different speeds in this regard.

Most children aged 12 to 15 in Denmark got the vaccine, and between 12 and 19 in Spain got at least one dose of the vaccine.

France moved at a fast pace, with 72 percent of those aged 12-17 having received a dose of the vaccine, and 64 percent of them had been fully vaccinated by September 30. Those under the age of 18 must present a health card, a health transit permit that proves that they have received the vaccine, or a negative corona test result to enter places such as cinemas, museums, restaurants and indoor shopping malls.

In Germany , health authorities initially allowed children aged 12 to 15 to be given the vaccine only if they had underlying health problems. But in August, after the spread of the delta mutant, the vaccine became available to all over the age of 12.

In Sweden , children between the ages of 12 and 15 can get the vaccine if they have lung disease, severe asthma or another high-risk health condition.

In Norway , which is not a member of the European Union, the vaccination program was recently extended to include children aged 12 to 15 years, who are currently receiving only the first dose, and the decision on the second dose will be made later.

Vaccination of young children

Governments in many countries have begun to include children at very young ages in immunization programmes.

The UAE has been offering the Chinese Sinopharma vaccine to children 3 years of age or older since August. Argentina also adopted the same policy.

Thailand is among the countries that offer the Pfizer vaccine to people between 12 and 19 years old

Chile also vaccinates children over the age of six with the Chinese Sinovac vaccine.

As for Cuba, its vaccination program includes all people from the age of two, and it uses the locally produced Soberna 02 vaccine.