Data from the Australian and New Zealand Intenstive Care Society show that in 2022, there was a 702.9% increase in ICU admissions for COVID-19 for children aged 0-9 yrs. Every day, one child in Australia is admitted to ICU for COVID-19. COVID-19 kills young people: since Oct 2021 to March 2023, there have been already 34 deaths in children & young people 0-19 years that have been directly attributed to COVID-19. 

Aside from the risk of severe consequences requiring hospitalisation in the  acute phase of infection, even apparently mild-cases of COVID-19 increase the risk of diseases that increase child mortality, including blood clots, kidney failure, and heart problems.

Up to 1 in 10 of infections in children cause long covid: and the risk of long covid in children is similar to adults.

In Australia, access to COVID-19 vaccines for children under 5 is currently not available to most children: only children who are severely immunocompromised, have disability, or those with complex and/or multiple health conditions are allowed access to COVID-19 vaccines. This approach of limiting access to COVID-19 vaccines contrasts with many countries, including the US, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, Chile, China, Hong Kong.

Parents in Australia must be allowed to vaccinate and boost their children against COVID-19 infections, to provide the best available protection against to their children. 

The Covid-19 vaccines are safe: the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) found that the Moderna vaccine is safe for ALL children 6 months - 5 years, as have the American FDA and Health Canada. In contrast, ATAGI have acted as gatekeeper to limit vaccine access, not only here, but also in blocking access to essential 6-monthly boosters for children above age 6: boosters are essential as vaccine efficectiveness wanes rapidly: by 2 months after the last dose, vaccine effectiveness wanes to 28.9% (95% CI, 24.5%-33.1%) in children and 16.6% (95% CI, 8.1%-24.3%) in adolescents [3]. ATAGI has narrowly focused on effects of acute infection and short-term side effects of vaccination, and fail to consider abovementioned longer-term impacts of covid-19 infections in children. In doing so, ATAGI have failed to use the precautionary principle.

We ask that the Minister Mark Butler and Deputy Health Minister Ged Kearney to urgently:

(1) Broaden access to COVID-19 vaccines, to include ALL children 6 months- 5yrs; in conjunction with their international counterparts in the US and Canada.

(2). Allow children above age 5 to access essential booster doses every 6 months to counteract waning immunity. 

Our leaders need to take action NOW to protect the youngest members of our community.

Image from Aditya Romansa on Unsplash.