Taiwan must immediately authorize the Pfizer-BNT COVID-19 vaccine for 5-11 year-old children.
 
WHY?
 
Though severe COVID symptoms in children are generally less common, children do nonetheless suffer and die from COVID-19.  Also, like adults, children can and do suffer lifelong harm from “long COVID” problems.
 
No country has managed to prevent spread of the Omicron variant.  Therefore, vaccinating children is a critically necessary part of keeping our society functioning now that Omicron is in Taiwan.  Vaccinating children will more safely allow schools to remain open and in-person.
 
Children must attend school for their own development and education.  Parents need children to go to school in order to work productively.  To SAFELY keep schools open and in-person, Taiwan must start vaccinating school-age children.
 
SAFETY:
 
Other countries have collectively administered MILLIONS of COVID-19 vaccine shots to children in this age group, with very few serious side effects.
 
In the U.S., as of December 31, 2021, nearly 9 million doses of Pfizer-BNT vaccine have been given to children 5-11 years old  (The New York Times).
 
The U.S. CDC has received very few reports of serious side effects.  Out of nearly 9 million doses given, there were only 11 verified reports of myocarditis.  Among these, 7 children had already recovered and 4 were still recovering at the time of the report.
 
A partial list of other countries which have authorized – or have announced plans to soon authorize – a COVID vaccine to young school-age children includes Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Venezuela.
 
The World Health Organization recently recommended extending the use of a reduced dosage of Pfizer-BNT COVID-19 vaccine to children aged 5-11.
 
“ADVANTAGES VS DISADVANTAGES”?
 
As to the Taiwan CDC’s statement that it has not yet authorized the vaccine for children due to "whether or not the advantages outweigh the disadvantages" given Taiwan’s pandemic conditions are different, this petition responds: Given the information shared here, the Taiwan CDC and ACIP should clarify what these potential disadvantages specifically are. 
 
The U.S. has administered 9 million shots of Pfizer-BNT to 5-11 year-old children with 0.000011% reporting any serious side effects.  The U.S. FDA authorized the vaccine for this age group after rigorous study.  There is an ongoing, randomized, placebo-controlled study involving the U.S., Finland, Poland and Spain that has enrolled approximately 4,700 children 5-11 years old.  

We understand that Taiwan's government has not had smooth relations with Pfizer and its distributors in the past. However, Taiwan has successfully dealt with the company to authorize the Pfizer-BNT COVID vaccine for 12-17 year-olds, and can do so again for 5-11 year-olds. The safety of our children should take priority over any geopolitical or political considerations.

Taiwan’s CDC and ACIP should immediately authorize the Pfizer-BNT COVID-19 vaccine for 5-11 year-old children, for the safety and good of the children AND the country.

 
台灣必須立即授權輝瑞-BNT Covid-19 疫苗用於 5-11 歲兒童。
 
為什麼？
 
儘管兒童中嚴重的 Covid 症狀通常不太常見，但兒童確實會因 Covid-19 而遭受痛苦並死亡。此外，與成年人一樣，兒童可能而且確實會因“長期新冠”問題而遭受終生傷害。
 
沒有一個國家能夠阻止 Omicron 變體的傳播。因此，既然 Omicron 在台灣，為兒童接種疫苗是保持我們社會運轉的至關重要的一部分。為兒童接種疫苗將使學校能夠更安全地保持開放和面對面教學。
 
孩子們必須為了自己的發展和教育而上學。父母需要孩子上學才能有成效地工作。為了安全地保持學校開放和麵對面，台灣必須開始為學齡兒童接種疫苗。
 
安全：
 
其他國家已經向這個年齡段的兒童集體注射了數百萬次 Covid-19 疫苗，幾乎沒有嚴重的副作用。
 
在美國，截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日，已向 5-11 歲的兒童接種了近 900 萬劑輝瑞-BNT 疫苗（紐約時報）。
 
美國疾病預防控制中心收到的嚴重副作用報告很少。在給予的近 900 萬劑中，只有 11 份經證實的心肌炎報告。其中，7名兒童已經康復，4名在報告時仍在康復中。
 
已授權或已宣布計劃很快授權給學齡兒童使用 Covid 疫苗的其他國家的部分名單包括阿根廷、澳洲、巴林、加拿大、智利、中國、捷克共和國、哥斯達黎加、古巴、厄瓜多爾、薩爾瓦多、法國、德國、香港、印尼、以色列、意大利、日本、馬來西亞、紐西蘭、阿曼、沙烏地阿拉伯、阿拉伯聯合大公國、委內瑞拉。
 
世界衛生組織最近建議將減少劑量的輝瑞-BNT Covid-19 疫苗的使用範圍擴大到 5-11 歲的兒童。
 
“是否利大於弊”？

對於台灣疾控中心表示，鑑於台灣疫情不同，“利大於弊”，尚未批准兒童疫苗，請願書回應：鑑於此處分享的信息，台灣疾控中心和ACIP 應該澄清這些潛在的缺點具體是什麼。

美國已經為 5-11 歲的兒童注射了 900 萬次輝瑞 BNT，其中 0.000011% 的兒童報告了任何嚴重的副作用。經過嚴格的研究，美國 FDA 批准了該年齡組的疫苗。正在進行一項涉及美國、芬蘭、波蘭和西班牙的隨機、安慰劑對照研究，該研究招募了大約 4,700 名 5-11 歲的兒童。

據了解，台灣政府過去與輝瑞及其經銷商的關係並不順暢。 然而，台灣已成功與該公司合作，授權輝瑞-BNT COVID 疫苗用於 12-17 歲的兒童，並且可以再次為 5-11 歲的兒童授權。 我們孩子的安全應該優先於任何地緣政治或政治考慮。

為了兒童和國家的安全和利益，台灣的 CDC 和 ACIP 應立即授權 5-11 歲兒童使用輝瑞-BNT Covid-19 疫苗。