Viewpoint of the European Pediatric Societies over Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Vaccination in Children Younger Than Age 12 Years Amid Return to School and the Surging Virus Variants

SARS-CoV-2 IgG seroprevalence in blood donors located in three different federal states, Germany, July 2020 to June 2021 – a follow-up

“…The main reason for this observation is likely to be the appearance of the novel delta variant of the virus. In Europe, this variant was first detected in the United Kingdom in April 2021 and subsequently became the dominant SARS-CoV-2 strain in most European countries [8]. Compared to the Alpha-variant that had predominated until then, the new Delta variant was characterized, among other things, by increased transmissibility of up to 40-80% [9, 10].…”

“…The main reason for this observation is likely to be the appearance of the novel delta variant of the virus. In Europe, this variant was first detected in the United Kingdom in April 2021 and subsequently became the dominant SARS-CoV-2 strain in most European countries [8].…”

The COVID-19 pandemic in children and young people during 2020-2021: A complex discussion on vaccination

“…The European Pediatric Societies over Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Vaccination in Children warned that a trial of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine in children aged 6-17 years was started in March 2021 in the UK, but it had to be paused as a precautionary measure because of reports on blood clots in adults. Therefore, European Pediatric Societies recommended against giving the vaccine to children younger than 12 years before “rigorous clinical trials are completed, adverse events carefully assessed, and not until vaccines are authorized and adequate dosage established by the respective national agencies”, as this would ensure that vaccines were safe and effective for this age group [ 72 ]. With similar caution, vaccination was endorsed in principle as a positive and safe public health measure by the Expert Panel on Infectious Diseases and COVID-19 of the Global Pediatric Pulmonology Alliance (GPPA), as well as the number of relevant Chinese medical and pediatric authorities [ 79 , 83 ].…”

Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Control between Drug Repurposing and Vaccination: A Comprehensive Overview

“…The continuous spreading of SARS-CoV-2 among recovered and vaccinated populations prompts the virus to generate new variants of interest (VOIs) and variants of concern (VOCs), with a probable tendency to escape the preexisting virus-neutralizing antibodies [118]. Different variants have been so far documented including alpha United Kingdom variant (B.1.1.7), beta South African variant (B.1.351), gamma Brazilian variant (P.1), delta Indian variant (B.1.617.2), lambda South American variant (C.37), and mu South American variant (B.1.621) [119,120]. Meanwhile, other uncharacterized variants were detected and are currently under close monitoring as "Variants under Monitoring (VUM)" [121,122].…”