217 admissions in Portugal since the start of the pandemic. 20 in intensive care
Since the beginning of Covid-19’s public health crisis, Portugal has registered 217 hospitalizations of children between 5 and 11 years old, of which 20 are intensive care units. DGS).
According to the same station, these numbers are in line with the values reported at the European level, being an important tool in the discussion about vaccination for this age group, which was approved on Friday by the DGS.
Children up to 9 years old, still a ‘CNN Portugal’, are currently an age group with the highest incidence of Covid-19 infection in the country, with an age group between 5 and 11 years old representing around 40 % of total cases in children under 18 years of age.
Until November 21 The DGS registered 63,781 cases of Covid-19 between 5 and 11 years old and five deaths between 0 and 19 years old, reveal the same data sent to the channel.
It is estimated that almost half of children in this same age group have already contracted the virus. Manuel Carmo Gomes, from the Technical Vaccination Commission for Covid-19 (CTVC), told the ‘Jornal de Notícias’ (JN) that of the total of 638,000 eligible children in the process, around 300,000 may have already been infected with Covid -19.
Although official records point to 69,763 cases of infection in children between 5 and 11 years old, the specialist indicates that this number “is just the tip of the iceberg”, with numbers that have no symptoms and are not detected. “At best, there are 300,000 who have already had an infection”, he estimates.
Remember that the DGS approved on Tuesday a vaccination against Covid-19 for children between 5 and 11 years, “with priority for children based on risk”.
In a statement the body revealed that “a vaccine to be used will be Comirnaty (Pfizer), which has a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for pediatric pediatrics, to date.”
“Additional technical clarifications and information about the vaccination schedule and respective logistics” will be provided at a press conference, scheduled for this Friday, December 10, according to the health authority.