Covid-19 vaccines: ‘Adults should have priority over kids’, say experts

As ATAGI approves vaccination for 12 to 15-year-olds, some infectious diseases experts warn they should not be given priority over adults.

A vial of the Pfizer vaccine. Picture: Rae Wilson

As the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation approves vaccination for 12 to 15-year-olds, some infectious diseases experts warn they should not be given priority over adults.

A surge in Delta cases in children has triggered panic among parents who are fearful their kids may be vulnerable to contracting severe disease.

But with Australia still grappling with a vaccine supply problem, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute paediatric infectious diseases specialist Nigel Curtis says vaccinating all adults, especially the vulnerable, must remain the priority as children are not at serious risk of severe disease with Delta.

Professor Curtis, who is also a researcher and head of infectious diseases at the Royal Children’s Hospital, has been observing the experiences of Britain and the US where Delta has run rampant.

He said a similar panic erupted overseas when high rates of children began catching Covid-19. However, the surge in Delta cases among children had been caused by the strain’s increased contagiousness, not an increase in virulence or severity, and that death rates remained low.

“When the UK opened up, they’ve seen more children with Covid in line with a larger volume of Covid across all age groups, but they have not had very severe disease and there’s been very, very few deaths,” Professor Curtis said.

“Delta is more infectious, and more people are getting sick, but we are seeing it affect all ages, and that age gradient of severity still holds with the severe disease is with the elderly.

“But because a high proportion of these people are vaccinated, it almost looks as if it’s somehow targeting children, but it isn’t, it’s targeting everybody more.”