Children Six Months to Four Years Old Can Now Get Their COVID-19 Vaccine in Thailand

The Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) in Thailand has launched a campaign to vaccinate children aged six months to four years old using a diluted, lower dosage of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

According to a Facebook post by the government’s communication channel, children aged six months to four years old will receive their doses from a monovalent maroon cap vial specifically made for their age range. This is different from the Pfizer vaccines with orange caps, which are for children aged five to 11 years old, and gray caps, which are for children and adolescents aged 12 and above.

Vaccination will require three doses of three micrograms each, with the first and second doses given a month apart, followed by the third dose (booster) eight weeks after. After each jab, parents will have to wait with their children for 30 minutes at the vaccination site for observation.

Highlighting a study in the United States, the MOPH said there hasn’t been a case of severe side effects or death among young children who took a lower dosage of the Pfizer vaccine. They also mentioned that the vaccine lowers the rate of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), a condition associated with COVID-19 that causes inflammation in different parts of the body, such as the heart, lungs, kidneys, eyes, and brain.