Get boosted...but still nothing for under 12s?

[Cutie101]

As a primary school teacher, AIBU to ask why on earth we still aren't vaccinating young children? My own child's year group has closed as almost half the year group have tested positive over over last week including a teacher (not omicron).
I have children hugging me, fingers up nose and all over everything all day every day, but still I am basically working in a petri dish. This is a disaster waiting to happen. This is crazy.

Pointless offering to primary kids, most parents will say no- me included. We should focus on adults- here and abroad! Boosting children is futile if adults in other continents don’t have enough vaccines!

Because there isn’t even an approved vaccine yet for them?! Because there’s only so many vaccination teams and appointments and vaccinating the least at risk group at this precise moment isn’t sensible use of scarce resources? Because some parents, myself included, will vaccinate our children if it’s demonstrably in their interest but absolutely not just to protect adults/school staff? (With whom I have much sympathy but not to that extent.)

Almost every child in my oldest’s class got it last month if they’d not had it before. True of most classes in most local schools here, and yes it was very disruptive for a couple of weeks - and then it was over. My child got a mild cold, a few had flu like symptoms, most were asymptomatic. It is likely a second infection would be even milder. I’d need quite some evidence before I felt a vaccine was needed for them at this point! Yes, lots of families and other adults caught it too, including me and DH, and some got quite ill, but since when did we give children medical procedures for the benefit of third parties?! With the infectiousness of omicron every adult is going to be repeatedly exposed to it over the next few weeks anyway - vaccinating small children is going to make bugger all difference to your chances. Especially with 20% of over 12s having not had two, much less three, doses yet.

Exceptions should be made for children who are very vulnerable or live with someone very vulnerable to be able to receive vaccine if their parents want them to - but that’s hardly going to stop it running round primary schools!

And I don’t think there are many scientists who think it’s going to be knocked on the head, kicked out of touch etc even if you offered vaccine all the way down to babies - the current vaccines aren’t good enough for that and it’s so infectious that even with an almost perfect vaccine you’d need an unrealistic percentage of people to take it. And it mutates. Covid will be circulating around in perpetuity, albeit hopefully with a level of immunity that prevents massive waves of hospitalisation.

@SnowyWinterFox

An entirely invaccinated cohort of the population (0-12) means that there is just a reservoir of potential infection and variants. We will never knock the bloody thing on the head until we include such a substantial part of the population.

This.

And the next variant may not be so easy on the children.

@Theyellowflamingo

Because there isn’t even an approved vaccine yet for them?! Because there’s only so many vaccination teams and appointments and vaccinating the least at risk group at this precise moment isn’t sensible use of scarce resources? Because some parents, myself included, will vaccinate our children if it’s demonstrably in their interest but absolutely not just to protect adults/school staff? (With whom I have much sympathy but not to that extent.)

Almost every child in my oldest’s class got it last month if they’d not had it before. True of most classes in most local schools here, and yes it was very disruptive for a couple of weeks - and then it was over. My child got a mild cold, a few had flu like symptoms, most were asymptomatic. It is likely a second infection would be even milder. I’d need quite some evidence before I felt a vaccine was needed for them at this point! Yes, lots of families and other adults caught it too, including me and DH, and some got quite ill, but since when did we give children medical procedures for the benefit of third parties?! With the infectiousness of omicron every adult is going to be repeatedly exposed to it over the next few weeks anyway - vaccinating small children is going to make bugger all difference to your chances. Especially with 20% of over 12s having not had two, much less three, doses yet.

Exceptions should be made for children who are very vulnerable or live with someone very vulnerable to be able to receive vaccine if their parents want them to - but that’s hardly going to stop it running round primary schools!

And I don’t think there are many scientists who think it’s going to be knocked on the head, kicked out of touch etc even if you offered vaccine all the way down to babies - the current vaccines aren’t good enough for that and it’s so infectious that even with an almost perfect vaccine you’d need an unrealistic percentage of people to take it. And it mutates. Covid will be circulating around in perpetuity, albeit hopefully with a level of immunity that prevents massive waves of hospitalisation.

The flu jab is given to children to protect the older generations and has been for years.

I won't be vaccinating my children but the issue is them passing it on to family members not the symptoms they get them self. It should be a parents choice

An entirely invaccinated cohort of the population (0-12) means that there is just a reservoir of potential infection and variants. We will never knock the bloody thing on the head until we include such a substantial part of the population

Seriously are there still people thinking we can eradicate this?

It mutates too fast. We will never eradicate this. Its like flu, it is endemic now. A reservoir of potential infection can be helpful in topping up our immunity naturally.

Because COVID isn’t a risk to them. We need to focus on jabbing adults and getting the rest of the world jabbed.

Oh and I say this sitting at home with Covid.im double vac but 6m since second dose. I've had it mildly. I get a bad chest every winter, this year it's been no different except this year its been Covid causing it. Only difference is, I've not able to work effectively at home because I've got my asymptomatic Covid positive toddler with me. In any other year she, a healthy child with no symptoms, would be off at nursery, and I could work.

The economic impact of making low/no symptom people isolate cant go on forever.

It’s not licensed so they can’t be vaccinated. And the licensing process is initiated by the manufacturer. So all a moot point really.

If teachers really are ‘dropping like flies’ despite vaccinations it would seem that there’s little point anyway??

Vaccinating this age group bushes zero sense
They don’t get Ill ( as in more so than a general bug) and it will make zero impact to spread.
I cannot understand anyone wanting to get their children vaccinated against this ( other for those children deemed cev)

Oh and a prophylactic vaccine that neither sterilises or neutralises the virus means there always will be a ‘reservoir of potential infection and variants’. You are not understanding these vaccines

There is a lot of research which points to letting children catch this and allowing their inate immunity to deal with it providing a much better long term response

Because children don't die if Covid unless they have massive underlying health issues.

@Lion1618

As a primary school teacher, I'm not in the slightest bit worried about the little ones I teach passing on their germs to me. At no point before, during or since my training have I found it acceptable to treat them in that way. Perhaps you should ask yourself why you're still in this job if you're that horrified to be around them.

Great comment. Wish you were my kids teacher.

My 13 yr old hasn't been vaxxed. Left it up to her. She'll have it if needs it to go to Spain next year.

My 10 yr old DS won't be having it under any circumstances. A small but worrying % of boys under 12 being jabbed have gone on to develop heart inflammation. Might be mild but no idea how it will effect them in the future. I'd rather my boy not being used as an experiment

Plus it's frankly immoral to use vaccines on children when some countries haven't enough vaccines to vaccinate their vulnerable.

I thought there had been no cases of myocarditis in under-12s in 5 million vaccinations of that group in the US?

The vaccine is approved for 5-11 year olds generally, but just the UK not approving its use here.

I think the option should be there for parents who want it. A lot of children get quite unwell with it, as well as the massive effect on their lives generally because of restrictions and missed school, etc., so the vaccine would do something for them too. There are also a lot of longer-term effects of Covid that they are still susceptible to.

DD has just turned four, so all very hypothetical at the moment, but I won’t be in any hurry to get her vaccinated for Covid if/when they roll it out to younger age groups. Neither will anyone else I know with primary school aged children, unless they are CEV.

Reasons? There are many, but the main ones are:

• The main point of the current vaccines is to prevent severe disease. It feels unethical to vaccinate younger children against a disease they barely suffer from. I know we do it for flu etc, but that isn’t compulsory and illnesses like flu are often more dangerous for children.

• The current vaccines aren’t sterilising vaccines and aren’t great at stopping transmission. Which means the other main argument for vaccinating young children - to protect adults - also appears to be on somewhat shaky ground. Adults should be protected from severe illness by their own vaccinations - it isn’t our children’s job to act as a bulletproof vest for older generations.

• It seems clear not that it wouldn’t be a one-off vaccine dose/course - regular boosters would be needed, and I’m not keen on getting my small child jabbed multiple times a year for a generally mild disease.

• With much of the developing world still unvaccinated, even with one dose, it feels super indulgent to be considering vaccinating our kids rather than assisting these countries with their own vaccine programmes. It is from these less vaccinated countries that any need variants are likely to emerge from.

• In countries that have vaccinated children, such as the US, the children often continue to live under significant restrictions, such as masks in schools etc.

It’s not that I’m scared of the vaccine - my booster dose is booked for later this week. But I think we are ethically on very dodgy ground if we try to bribe/coerce parents into vaccinating their healthy children, to whom Covid poses very little threat.

All of the above said, I do think vaccines for 5-11s should be available for those who want them. I just think there should be no compulsion whatsoever to take up the offer, and no favourable treatment for those who do.

They have no plan for schools.

It's awful. GP's don't want to see people face to face but teachers have to be in a room full of unvaccinated children all day. I think it's only a matter of time thankfully OP.
Kids have the flu jab for exactly the same reasons as they'd be having the covid one and suggesting they shouldn't have it because there are adults in other countries who haven't had a jab is ludicrous. Do people think if they turn it down their vax it will be sent off to Africa??

What’s the next outcry going to be? Vaccines for under 5s? How dare we leave our under 5s running the gauntlet of covid infection, who cares if the risk benefit analysis doesn’t stack up, we must vaccinate them all? Babies - how can we make them wait until 6 weeks old, it’s just so dangerous having that big reservoir of unvaccinated people! They might infect their nans!

My DD just turned 4 and as things stand I will not get her vaccinated in a year’s time unless covid has really changed to become much more severe in children. It doesn’t stack up at the moment. She’s done her bit by having almost half her life disrupted and restricted. Leave her alone.

I won't be vaccinating my children for a virus they gave almost zero chance of getting seriously ill from. We are by no means anti-vax but no way would I give my child this vaccine.

Why would you vaccinate them? All my four had it, only 2 even had symptoms. I won't be vaccinating my kids against something that I wouldn't have even known about without a positive test. Ridiculous.
We need to get vulnerable people and those over 18 boosted as a priority.

@Tal45

It's awful. GP's don't want to see people face to face but teachers have to be in a room full of unvaccinated children all day. I think it's only a matter of time thankfully OP. Kids have the flu jab for exactly the same reasons as they'd be having the covid one and suggesting they shouldn't have it because there are adults in other countries who haven't had a jab is ludicrous. Do people think if they turn it down their vax it will be sent off to Africa??

Why’s it’s not ok to compare flu with covid but it’s fine to compare the flu jab with the covid vaccine? And many people don’t give their children the flu jab for this reason, it’s not primarily for their benefit.

Yes, they absolutely should be offering them to 5-11 year olds.

It doesn't matter if they did offer it - I don't think the majority of parents in this country would agree to it.

It does matter greatly to some parents though. The vaccination isn't compulsory but some parents have extremely good reasons for wanting to be able to access it.