Recommendations for the urgent need to vaccinate school-aged and adolescent children against COVID-19 in the Asia

Recommendations for the urgent need to vaccinate school-aged and adolescent children against COVID-19 in the Asia–Pacific region

Published:2021-09-16 Issue:1 Volume:49 Page:
ISSN:1349-4147
Container-title:Tropical Medicine and Health
language:en
Short-container-title:Trop Med Health

Author:

Kobayashi Jun^ORCID,Takeuchi Rie,Shibuya Fumiko,Murata Yuki,Takahashi Kenzo

Abstract

AbstractWe recommend urgent expansion of a vaccination program for adolescents and school-age children against SARS-CoV-2 infection in the Western Pacific region. Since July 2021, SARS-CoV-2 infections in children have increased rapidly in this region. As infection rates rise due to the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant, current preventive strategies such as mask wearing and social distancing have controlled its spread effectively. Prolonged school closure is currently being promoted to suppress virus spread among children. However, the negative impact of prolonged school closure is significant. Although vaccination of children under 12 is still controversial, preparations must be made now for their vaccination.

Funder

University of the Ryukyus

Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Subject

Infectious Diseases,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Link

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186/s41182-021-00365-5.pdf

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