The Government has announced it is rolling out Covid-19 vaccination for children aged five to 11, having previously limited inoculations to children aged at least 12 years. The development comes after millions of children around the world have already received Covid-19 shots, as countries moved to add a layer of protection against the virus for youngsters. While children have a low risk of getting severely ill from Covid, with most of them believed to recover without showing any symptoms, there are rare cases where children have developed severe disease. Unfortunately, few have even succumbed to the virus, with children with underlying conditions at a higher risk of developing severe disease. The World Health Organization recommends that governments move on to administer Covid-19 vaccines to children once they’ve fully vaccinated high-risk population groups and all adults. That’s what has informed Rwanda’s Covid-19 vaccination plan. Indeed, science has guided the country’s pandemic response through and through. The timing of the planned vaccination drive for children aged five to 12 is particularly significant with schools due to reopen next week, and therefore there is a need to protect the education system from possible virus-induced disruptions as was the case in the early days of the outbreak. Both parents and schools are highly encouraged to support this important effort, which will go a long way toward consolidating the country’s gains in vaccinating ourselves out of the pandemic and accelerating recovery. According to experts, aside from the fact that relatively few children have ended up in intensive care or lost their lives as a result of Covid-19, children are also at risk of developing ‘long Covid’, which involves long-lasting symptoms. Some have also linked Covid-19 to future multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, a rare condition that can lead to inflammation of organs such as lungs, kidneys, heart, and brain, among others – sometimes with fatal outcomes. Besides, Covid-19 vaccines for children have met all necessary safety and efficacy requirements, and there is no reason why any child aged at least five years should be denied the opportunity to have their natural immunity further boosted against the virus. It’s important that relevant health authorities work closely with schools, local leaders, religious leaders and other stakeholders to raise awareness about the exercise to ensure it’s carried out seamlessly, as has largely been the case with other population groups.
