Lidia Kelly

MELBOURNE (Reuters – Australia’s medical regulator approved the provisional approval on Sunday Pfizer Inc (NYSE:), a vaccine against coronavirus in children aged between 5 and 11 years, with the Health Minister stating that the rollout might begin Jan. 10.

Greg Hunt, health minister, stated that “They” (the Therapeutics Goods Administration), had done a thorough, careful assessment and determined it to be safe and effective.

Australia, after initial delays in its COVID-19 vaccination programme, has quickly become one the most immunized countries. Data shows that 88% of Australians above 16 years old have had two doses.

National vaccinations may be voluntary but states and territories can mandate shots for certain occupations.

According to polls, anti-vaccination advocates are in the single digits of Australia. However, they hold weekly rallies against the health measure in Melbourne and in other Australian cities.

Australia has the largest overall coverage of childhood vaccinations, at 95%, according to data from health.

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) still has to approve the Pfizer vaccine. The vaccine will then be accessible to around 2.3million children between the ages of 5 and 11.

Although Australia has been fighting many of its outbreaks in the past year which resulted in months of lockdown in Sydney, Melbourne and other major cities, the country only had about 834 confirmed COVID-19 deaths and 7.9 deaths per 100 000 people according to the World Health Organisation. That is just a fraction compared to many developed countries.

Australia had only 215,000 deaths and 2,042 cases.