In a report published on vaccination against Covid-19, about six months after the start of vaccine administration to adolescents in the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA), the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) , points out that “more than half of adolescents aged 10 to 17 years have not yet completed a primary course” of vaccination, although there is “a very high level of protection against infections, symptomatic diseases and serious illnesses” in this age range.

Data from the European agency reveals that by the end of January “the median use of the primary course of the vaccine among adolescents aged between 15 and 17 years was 70.9% - with a range from 17.9% to 92, 6% by country - and between 10 and 14 years old was 34.8% - with a range of 3% to 63.8% - with wide heterogeneity between countries”.

Vaccination against Covid-19 in adolescents started in summer 2021 in the EU/EEA, about six months after the introduction of vaccines for the adult population.

At the moment, all EU/EEA countries recommend vaccination against Covid-19 for adolescents between 12 and 17 years of age, and of these, 10 countries also recommend a booster dose for children under 18 years of age.

In the EU, the booster dose is authorized only for the adult population, but the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has already announced that it is evaluating an application by the Pfizer/BioNTech pharmaceutical consortium for a booster dose for adolescents aged 16 to 17 years, providing similar application for ages 12 to 15.

According to the EMA, its Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use will analyze this data “in a speedy manner with the aim of reaching an opinion as soon as possible”.