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Russian health official calls on parents to vaccinate kids, teenagers against COVID-19

Viktor Fisenko noted that children were the main carriers of the virus and the source of infection for their older family members

MOSCOW, November 24. /TASS/. Director of Russia’s National Medical Research Center of Children's Health Professor Andrei Fisenko has called on parents to vaccinate children and teenagers aged 12 to 17 years against the coronavirus.

"I would like to urge parents to actively engage in the vaccination campaign (among children and teenagers aged from 12 to 17 - TASS), given that it’s safe," he told the Rossiya-24 TV channel on Wednesday.

Fisenko noted that children were the main carriers of the virus and the source of infection for their older family members. "Vaccination will allow us to significantly reduce this risk, giving an additional boost to herd immunity and the Russian people’s ability to resist COVID-19," he emphasized.

Fisenko noted that coronavirus vaccines for kids were in use in more than 40 countries. "There has so far been no feedback about low tolerance [among children] or strong side effects. I’m sure that voluntary vaccination in our country will produce the same result," Fisenko said.

Deputy Director General of the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology Denis Logunov announced earlier that a coronavirus vaccine for teenagers had been approved in Russia.