Sweden not recommending COVID vaccines for children under 12

The Public Health Agency of Sweden said in a press release Thursday, January 27th, that Sweden has decided against recommending COVID vaccines for kids aged 5-12, arguing that the benefits do not outweigh the risks.

“With the knowledge we have today, with a low risk for serious disease for kids, we don’t see any clear benefit with vaccinating them,” Health Agency official Britta Bjorkholm told a news conference (according to Reuters News).

She added that the decision could be revisited if the research changed or if a new variant changed the pandemic. Kids in high-risk groups can already get the vaccine.

Sweden registered more than 40,000 new cases on January 26th, one of the highest daily numbers during the pandemic, despite limited testing. While the fourth wave has seen daily infection records shattered, healthcare is not under the same strain as during previous waves.

Sweden’s government on Wednesday extended restrictions, which included limited opening hours for restaurants and an attendance cap for indoor venues, for two weeks but said it hoped to remove them on February 9th.