Six-month-old children to receive COVID-19 vaccine in new recommendations
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has updated its 2023 immunisation schedule for children and individuals under the age of 18.
COVID-19 vaccinations were included in the new recommendations for routine children inoculations in the United States, but it remains to be seen whether or not Australia will take the same measure into consideration - one leading infectious diseases physician is doubtful.
For children in the United States, the schedule comes only as a recommendation and not as a mandate. The COVID-19 vaccinations will now feature alongside the likes of other common vaccinations for the measles, MMR, mumps, polio, chickenpox, and the flu.
It was last year in 2022 that the CDC first recommended COVID-19 vaccination for children of six months and up, but it has only now been formalised.
Professor Robert Booy from the University of Sydney’s Infectious Diseases Institute spoke to SBS News about the United State’s approach to their vaccination recommendations, suggesting they may be “a bit gung-ho”.
“They're recommending vaccinations even for children who are at mild risk," he said, “they're recommending vaccinations to all children."
Professor Booy went on to add that he does not believe Australia will follow in the US’ footsteps, and that the vaccination is unlikely to be recommended for babies here.
"We're taking the approach that vaccination is for children who are vulnerable - children who are at high risk and who have multiple medical problems or disability,” he explained.
On the subject of Australia’s childhood vaccinations, he stated that the country is “not standing out”, as the United Kingdom is “more conservative” and equally unlikely to adopt the new US recommendations.
“We're just doing similar to other countries,” he said. “The US is standing out by being a bit 'gung-ho' in recommending vaccination to all children under five."
Dr Deepti Gurdasani, a clinical epidemiologist and statistical geneticist from the United Kingdom, took to Twitter to share her belief that the UK and Australia were unlikely to follow.
At this stage, Australians aged five and up are recommended to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. However, the vaccinations are still recommended for children from six months to five years who are immunocompromised, have a disability, or have health conditions that increase their risk of severe COVID-19 symptoms.
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