Editorial | Clear up confusion over vaccine doses

The prolonged Covid-19 pandemic makes adjustments in fighting strategies inevitable, but they may also create confusion when made too often and are not well explained.

The sudden U-turn on adolescents needing only one dose of the BioNTech vaccine, instead of two as previously recommended, is bound to fuel scepticism and misunderstanding.

The government should closely monitor the uptake of jabs within the age group and step up publicity to rebuild confidence in inoculation among parents and youngsters.

The new advice by government experts is essentially striking a balance between immunisation and the risk of having adverse effects. Since the lowering in June of the vaccination age limit to 12, there have been 37 cases of heart inflammation, a rate higher than previously expected.

As the condition usually occurred following the second dose, experts believe the risk would be reduced by 80 per cent by waiving the second shot. Given the local situation regarding infections is fairly stable, it is believed that one dose of the vaccine will still provide adequate protection.

There is no reason to blame the experts for the original two-shot advice. They made their recommendation based on the information available at the time.

But some parents will understandably be dismayed to learn of the risks that their children have been exposed to. Many may fear their children will still suffer from undesirable effects rather than be reassured by the reduced risk of infection.