Gloria Raudjarv, 13, marched with her father to the vaccination center in a sports hall in Estonia’s second largest city. She was then taken to the nurse to receive her first COVID-19 shot.
Around half of Tartu’s teenage boys and girls aged 12-17 have received their first vaccination shot. Local health officials are trying to get to 70% by September 1, when school resumes.
She said, grasping her vaccination certificate, “I really want go to school already. We have been online learning for so many years.”
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended that the coronavirus vaccine manufactured by Pfizer BioNTech be extended to children aged 12-15. However, large gaps in vaccination access are now being observed for youths throughout Europe. The vaccine that Moderna made was also approved by the EU drug regulator last week.
France, Denmark, Estonia and Denmark are encouraging parents to immunize their children before the start of the school year. However, other countries such as Sweden or the United Kingdom have not yet started mass vaccinations for children under 18.
In the meantime, the World Health Organization has stated that children are not priority vaccine recipients due to the limited supply and lower risk of serious disease and death. The World Health Organization has asked rich countries to give their vaccines to the developing world and stop giving them to children.
However, the highly transmissible delta variant of the virus creates new infections despite the fact that vaccination rates in Europe rise for adults, so there are concerns that the spread of the virus will be accelerated by young people.
Maria Theodoridou is the head of the Greece National Vaccination Committee. She stated that there has been a marked increase in positive cases among children and adolescents in Greece in the past week.
Theodoridou stated that children and adolescents are a source for the spread of the virus. He also said that the most vulnerable were those living in the child’s home who had not been vaccinated.
She warned that children getting infected will lead to “new variants and a decrease in the effectiveness of vaccines.”
While vaccination is still voluntary in Europe, Denmark is where more than a quarter of all children between 12 and 15 years old are receiving their first dose. Health officials hope that parents will follow the recommendations to get vaccines before they return to school.
France is home to a third of children aged 12-17 who have had at least one dose. The French education minister has been criticised for announcing this week that unvaccinated students will be sent home from school starting in September if they get COVID-19.
Critics claimed this would lead to a two-tiered education system that unfairly discriminates against children whose parents oppose vaccination. WHO says children don’t need to be immunized if they are protected by the parents and teachers who are at risk.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 25% of the 12-15 year olds who received Pfizer’s May vaccine have received their second dose. About 37% of U.S. teenagers aged 16-17 are fully vaccinated.
Estonia has a youth vaccination campaign that is run by local municipalities. Tartu’s rapid rollout can be attributed to strong outreach via social media and schools, as well as easy registration and easy registration. Tartu is home to a university and research center.
It’s mainly about the teens themselves seeing their friends again. Estonian schools are closed to in-school learning from February. There have been some exceptions for children under 5 and students sitting exams.
Gloria, who is in 7th grade, aspires for a singing career and is eager to return to school’s stage.
Ott Maidre, a biology teacher at Hugo Treffner, said that “contacts, interactions and discussions, as well as the change in environment, getting out of home to go to school, is really important.” She also missed face-to-face instruction.
Tartu’s Vice Mayor Mihkel Les is optimistic that the city will achieve its 70% goal of vaccinations for students 12-17 by September 1st.
They have Plan B if they don’t.
He said that “in case we cannot vaccinate enough children and youth at the vaccine center during the summer,” “school nurses” will help.
