Every step in the pandemic is a fight against beliefs, myths and fears. The latest: the possible adverse effects of the vaccine against covid in young people from 12 to 16 years of age. Through networks and in the street, some Internet users point out the “experimental” nature of this vaccination. Eminent scientists such as Federico Martinón, Sonia Villapol and Alberto García-Salido deny this.
In the case of the neuroscientist Villapol, who works in Houston, Texas, her eldest daughter, aged twelve, has already been vaccinated in the USA. “At the moment, she explains, the Pfizer vaccine is approved for use in adolescents aged 12 and older, and the Moderna vaccine is about to be authorised. The studies in children from six months to twelve years are also giving very good results, without problems, without adverse effects, and I suppose that it will be approved at the end of September or October”.
With regard to doubts about the use of this vaccine in adolescents or children, she replies that “ millions of young people have already been vaccinated without adverse effects and they are protected as well as reducing transmission. As a mother, no one wants their child to be infected with covid, because of the persistent effects that the virus may have
On this last point, she stresses that “we do not know the vulnerabilities, our child may develop serious symptoms. The vaccine has already been tested and is safe . You have to trust the science. It’s better to be protected than to be exposed to a disease that can affect you a lot”.
She also emphasises the importance of protecting the youngest members of the community: “Adolescents transmit covid just like adults, so in the United States it is expected that the little ones are vaccinated before school starts. They will be 100% protected against covid. Vaccination was already opened in March (for those over twelve years of age)”.