London, Dec 17 (TIWN) Even as the Omicron variant continues to spread, European nations including Germany, Hungary, Greece, and Spain have started vaccinating children as young as five and upto 11 years of age, against Covid-19 from Wednesday.

The vaccine administered will be of a lower dose than the Pfizer jab for over-12s. It also comes in a paediatric vial with an orange cap to distinguish it from the purple-capped vials for older ages, the Daily Mail reported.

This week, low-dose BioNTech/Pfizer vaccines will be distributed to pediatricians and vaccination centers for administration in all federal states, the Ministry of Health (BMG) said.  German pediatricians expect a high uptake of vaccination in the targeted age group. "This was already the case with the vaccination of adolescents," Thomas Fischbach, president of the Professional Association of Pediatricians and Adolescents (BVKJ), told the Rheinische Post newspaper.  According to the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV), the country's pediatricians have ordered around 800,000 vaccine doses for children for this week, which are to be delivered by Wednesday at the latest.