By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA, (Reuters) – Children and adolescents are more at risk for severe COVID-19 illness than adults. Therefore, governments should prioritize adult vaccinations and share doses of vaccines with COVAX to help poorer countries.

Younger men have experienced myocarditis (rare cases of severe heart inflammation) after receiving vaccines that were based upon mRNA techloy. Pfizer BioNtech (NYSE:) Moderna (NASDAQ:). Those symptoms were usually mild and can be managed with treatment.

The risk, although not fully assessed, was still lower than that of myocarditis caused by SARS-CoV-2, the report stated.

As more agencies approve certain vaccines for children’s use, the WHO issued interim guidance. This was in response to increasing regulatory approvals, such as those from Canada, China and India, along with India, China and the European Union.

According to the WHO, children and adolescents have milder diseases than adults. Unless they’re at greater risk for severe COVID-19 it is not urgent to give them vaccines.

The report said children may experience COVID-19 with long symptoms, but it was still being studied.

There are many risk factors that could lead to severe COVID-19, such as obesity and older age.

While schools might need to take precautions against transmission, it is important that all children in school continue education, according to the WHO.

According to the WHO, due to limited vaccine supply, vaccination programmes should be geared towards protecting high-risk populations that are most at risk of death and hospitalisation.

It stated that “as many countries face severe vaccine shortages in the world, countries with high coverage among at-risk populations need to prioritize global sharing COVID-19 vaccines prior to vaccinating children and adolescents.”