Vaccination of children will begin with those with chronic diseases towards end Sept.

COVID-19 vaccination for children over the age of 12 years would be carried out in three phases, Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians (SLCP) member Dr. R. M. Surantha Perera said.

The vaccination process would commence from the last week of September with those with chronic diseases being inoculated first, Dr. Perera said.

“We will vaccinate children with complications first. Secondly, we will vaccinate students in A/L and O/L classes and finally we will vaccinate other children, especially those over 12. We request the parents to have their children vaccinated. However, the final decision on vaccinating children would be made today (13), Dr. Perera said.  So far only the US-manufactured Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine had been approved for children, he said

“Pfizer and Modern vaccines are widely used in the West, especially in the United States. Pfizer vaccine is the most commonly used. It is important that we do not give a vaccine to children only to find out its effects later. All we must do is adopt the methodology that the West has tried and tested. The United States has vaccinated millions. Yet very few have complications,” he said.

Dr. Perera said that children with complications could be vaccinated with existing stocks of Pfizer in the country. “We need only about 60,000 to 70,000 doses,” he said. (RK)