Vaccinating children reduces the "viral load," says immunology expert

The ultimate goal of vaccinating children aged 12 to 17 is to reduce the “viral load” among this group, said Abdallah Badou, a professor of immunology at the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy at Hassan II University in Casablanca.

The health expert added, in a statement to Hespress, that this age group is considered a carrier category, despite its low rates of Covid-19 infections.

In response to the statements warning against vaccinating children, the professor of immunology said that “there is data that confirms the importance of vaccinating this age group,” especially with the spread of the new Delta variant.

However, the expert noted that children aged 5 to 11 “do not require vaccination because they do not develop the disease, especially if we take into account the change in the concept of herd immunity.”

Amid an intense debate about herd immunity and vaccination, Badou said that the lack of effectiveness of vaccines and the spread of infection at a rate of 6 to 8 will make it difficult to reach herd immunity, even after vaccinating 100 percent of the population.

A number of health experts voiced their refusal to subject Moroccan children to vaccination against the Coronavirus.

“Children should not be vaccinated as long as no infections were recorded in their ranks,” said pharmacist Anas Filali Hilali, during a seminar organized Friday at the headquarters of the United Socialist Party in Casablanca.

In his intervention, Al-Filali Al-Hilali added that officials at the Ministry of Health, along with the national scientific committee that recommends vaccinating children, “must prove that this category of citizens is also infected with the virus.”

The vaccination debate entered a new era in Morocco after the government’s decision to mandate the vaccine pass in public and private places, starting from October 21, as NGOs and political leaders who question the effects of the decision condemn the decision on the grounds of protecting the health and the rights of the Moroccan citizen.