Riyadh – Dr. Abdullah Asiri, assistant deputy minister for preventive health, stated all children between the ages of 5 and 11 get their second dose of the coronavirus vaccine four weeks after taking the first dose.
He said on a Saudi Television channel that the children’s dose of vaccine is equivalent to half of the standard dose. In addition, he stated that Omicron is the only mutated variant of coronavirus observed in the Kingdom.
The vaccines for children are safe and effective. “These vaccines have been used to vaccinate millions of children between the ages of five and 11 years around the world, especially in the United States of America,” he said.
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No cases of myocarditis were reported in children receiving the vaccines. Dr. Asiri said that the general situation of the pandemic in the Kingdom is under control, with few critical cases even after an increase in coronavirus infection, mainly due to the Omicron mutant that spreads quickly.
He said that the Omicron mutant, which has become the only strain found in the Kingdom and almost all countries, is active in the upper part of the respiratory system. Still, it could reach the lungs in a few infected people compared to other variants. “Omicron spreads more among the unvaccinated group, compared to other groups. It turns into a cold virus rather than a virus that infects the lower parts of the respiratory system,” he said.
Dr. Asiri attributed the calmness of the pandemic situation to a state of balance between the numbers of new infections and herd immunity.
