Vaccination of children aged 5-11 with the Pfizer/BioNTec vaccine started on Wednesday.
The vaccine contains 1/3 of the adult dose and the second dose will be administered after 21 days.
“Their vaccination will primarily protect them, while at the same time reducing the number of cases in schools and will boost ‘community immunity’ levels within society in general,” according to Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases Vana Papaevangelou.
The professor, who is also a member of the Committee of Experts, noted that the data from the US and Israel on the safety of vaccines for children of this age are excellent.
In the United States, according to the CDC, more than five million children have received the first dose and 1.8 million children have completed their two-dose vaccination.
“It is emphasised that there is no indication of unexpected side effects from the administration of the vaccine to children 5-11 years old, nor have episodes of myocarditis-pericarditis been recorded after the vaccination,” Papaevangelou added.