Europe kicks off COVID vaccine drive for kids
Several European nations start vaccinating children aged five to 11 against COVID-19 on Wednesday, in an effort to contain a raging pandemic and keep schools open, while others are still deciding their approach. Germany, Spain, Greece and Hungary are among those opening up their inoculation drives to younger kids, with doctors reporting strong initial demand from parents. In Malta, the first jabs were administered on Tuesday. The EU's medicines watchdog last month approved the Pfizer-BioNTech shot for five to 11-year-olds the Pfizer-BioNTech shot for five to 11-year-olds, an age group experiencing high coronavirus infection rates across the continent. The vaccine is administered in a lower dosage than the Pfizer jab for over-12s, and comes in a paediatric vial with an orange cap to distinguish it from the purple-capped vials for older ages. Denmark, which has seen a surge in cases attributed to the highly contagious new Omicron variant, and some Austrian regions already began offering jabs to younger kids in November. The United States was the first large country to take the plunge and has so far vaccinated more than five million children aged five to 11. 'Small cog' "As soon...