Search

As COVID-19 vaccinations rolled out globally from late 2020, rules and recommendations regarding vaccine use in pregnancy shifted rapidly. Pre-registration COVID-19 vaccine trials excluded those who were pregnant. Initial Australian medical advice did not routinely recommend COVID-19 vaccines in pregnancy, due to limited safety data and little perceived risk of local transmission.

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation and New Zealand Ministry of Health recommend all children aged ≥ 5 years receive either of the two mRNA COVID-19 vaccines: Comirnaty (Pfizer), available in both Australia and New Zealand, or Spikevax (Moderna), available in Australia only. Both vaccines are efficacious and safe in the general population, including children. Children and adolescents undergoing treatment for cancer and immunosuppressive therapy for non-malignant haematological conditions are particularly vulnerable, with an increased risk of severe or fatal COVID-19.

Early in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, evidence emerged that individuals with chronic and immunocompromising conditions faced increased risk of severe infection, including death. The Australian Government and public health authorities prioritised these citizens' access to vaccines, including them in phase 1b of the rollout from 22 March 2021. 

Following reduction of public health and social measures concurrent with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron emergence in late 2021 in Australia, COVID-19 case notification rates rose rapidly. As rates of direct viral testing and reporting dropped, true infection rates were most likely to be underestimated.

The Australian and New Zealand Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ANZPID) Group of the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases (ASID) calls for urgent consideration of the needs and voices of children in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in planning for future pandemics.

Optimising our national Covid-19 vaccine program could be one step closer thanks to new research now underway at The Kids Research Institute Australia investigating the most effective, long-term strategies for booster vaccinations.

Like many of us, consumer and community advocate Catherine Hughes is worried about the impact of COVID-19. So she joined Australia’s first COVID-19 consumer reference group to be a voice for the community.

The speed with which research projects on the coronavirus have been put together has consumer advocates concerned that a vital voice will be missing – that of the community.

Australia’s TGA has granted a provisional determination to Pfizer, allowing the pharmaceutical company to apply for approval to extend its COVID-19 vaccine to children aged 6 mths - 4 yrs.

Management and outcomes of children hospitalised with acute SARS-CoV-2 infection may differ throughout the pandemic or with admission type (clinical COVID-19, incidental COVID-19 or nosocomial infection).