One-fifth of children in the Czech Republic between 12-15 have now been vaccinated

More than 100,000 children in the Czech Republic between the ages of 12 and 15 have now been vaccinated against Covid-19, according to data from the Czech Health Ministry. The number represents roughly one-fifth of all children in this age group.

The Czech Education and Health Ministries decided in June that fully vaccinated children will not need to get tested for Covid-19 in September, when the new school year starts, and three initial rounds of testing rounds are planned for unvaccinated students.

By Wednesday, August 11, roughly 103,000 children aged 12 to 15 had received their first vaccination dose, and nearly 23,000 of them were fully vaccinated.

An additional 15,000 children have received the date of their first vaccination appointment, and another 8,600 have registered and are waiting for a date. Out of the nearly 23,000 children who have registered for vaccination, the vast majority have done so with vaccination centers rather than family doctors.

Registration for vaccination against Covid-19 opened to children between 12-15 years of age on July 1.

Paediatric clinics were allowed to start ordering the Covid-19 vaccines only a few days ago. Last Friday, the Czech Health Ministry signed a new contract with Avenier, the distributor of the vaccination substances from AstraZeneca, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, to accommodate for them. Under the terms of the contract, one clinic must order at least 50 vaccine doses.

The Moderna vaccine is intended for children, but vaccination centers may administer the Pfizer vaccine to children as well.

Data on vaccinations in the Czech Republic imply that more than 220,000 vaccine doses have been given to minors aged 17 and under, while about 550,000 doses have been administered to young people aged 18-24.

Vaccination should be a benefit for students as they will not be subject to mandatory Covid-19 testing at the beginning of the new school year in September. For children who are too young to be vaccinated, as well as unvaccinated students, three initial testing rounds are scheduled for September 1, 6, and 9.

The results of the initial testing rounds will guide further testing in schools. Should more than 25 cases per 100,000 students occur during the first two rounds of testing in one district, mandatory testing should take place in the area once per week.

Currently, the rate of Covid-19 cases in the general population in Prague, Prague-East, Jihlava, Olomouc, and České Budějovice is above 25 per 100,000 people.

Additional Covid-19 regulations in Czech schools include mandatory face masks or respirators for children who refuse testing; schools must also provide them with a separate cafeteria area. If students refuse to obey these rules, they will not be allowed to attend regular school education.