MOSCOW, Feb 17, 2022 (BSS/TASS) - Immunity to COVID-19 in children can
last for up to nine months, Yevgeny Timakov, a specialist in infectious
diseases and vaccines, told TASS on Thursday.

   "Scientific studies indicate that immunity in children lasts longer than
in adults <...>. Whereas adults' immunity weakens in six months, children's
immunity lasts for nine months," he said.

   According to the expert, the older a child is the more antibodies he or
she develops. "Younger children develop less antibodies, but they have other
factors of protection. They already have T-cell immunity," he noted.

   In his words, vaccination of children is not a top priority task today
because they have developed natural immunity to the coronavirus infection
after the disease. So, he noted, it is necessary to immunize only those
children who did not have COVID-19.

  On November 24, the Russian health ministry registered the Sputnik M
coronavirus vaccines meant for adolescents aged from 12 to 17. It is a two-
dose vaccine, the interval between which is 21 days. The ministry stressed
that vaccination of teenagers from 12 to 15 will only be conducted with the
written consent of their parents or caretakers or with voluntary consent for
those aged 15 and older.

   On January 24, the health ministry issued a license for clinical tests of
a Gamaleya Center's coronavirus vaccine in children aged from 6 to 11. The
tests involving 2,200 children will be organized at three medical
establishments in Moscow. According to the Center's director Alexander
Gintsburg, the tests will take three and a half months.