This data holds the key for how to restore or offer these services safely.
Countries must act urgently so the next generation has the health, education, and social opportunities to reach their fullest potential and so that no child 👧🏿 or teen is left behind @DirOPSPAHO#COVID19
As countries weigh the benefits of vaccinating children 🩹, and as they work to bring back in-person learning, I want to reinforce a point I made at the top: the need for better and more granular data 📊
And last week, the WHO’s expert group on immunization authorized Pfizer’s COVID vaccine for children 👩🏿🦱🧑🏻🦱 between the ages of 5 and 12, offering a roadmap for countries that may be ready to roll out COVID vaccines for them.
In these countries, where vulnerable groups have already been protected and where additional vaccine supplies 📦 may be available, countries should consider the benefits of vaccinating children to further reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 🦠
In many countries – particularly our Caribbean islands and territories – vaccine coverage among the elderly and at-risk groups like health workers 🧑🏾⚕️👩🏾⚕️ remains low.
And finally, we should talk about COVID vaccines 🩹 for children.
Before considering vaccinating healthy children, countries should ensure that coverage among groups at highest risk of COVID-19 disease and death is high.
Countries must see routine immunizations for what they are ➡️ essential.
These services were critical before the pandemic, and they remain central to our COVID response, so that our children 👧🏿👦🏻🧒🏽 don’t fall further at risk.
