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.

@PastMyBestBeforeDate

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.

Yeah, sorry, that was a bit flippant. I just meant that it's unlikely to make a significant difference in a general sense because take up is likely to be so small. I can see why the focus is elsewhere, but I feel deeply sorry for those parents who aren't getting the option.

I don't object to jabs being offered to those that want it for their 6-11s. What I do object to is the coercion, bullying and stigmatising of NOT wanting your 6-11s jabbed. Anyone who says this wouldn't happen as soon as 6-11 jabs become available is either a liar or completely naive.

At this point it’s a far better use of resources to ensure that teachers and other adults are boosted.

Mabel sorry too. You took my flak for the general dismissal of the need. :)

I'm not against vaccines but what difference would it make for young dc when you can still catch and spread it when vaccinated anyway. I would be all for it if it stopped the spread.

For most kids it will be mild. Ds has covid right now and was mildly ill for one day only.

I personally would like to be able to make the choice.

I have an immuno compromised child and he is not 12 until September. I'd love for him to be done. At the moment I have just a constant gnawing anxiety about him. We have at various points taken him out of school (with the full agreement of his utterly wonderful HT) when numbers get high. But he already has his life curtailed due to his various health issues I'd just like something to go right for him for once.

@xxxGirlCrushxxx

yes they do need a vaccine...as a part of society they absolutely do. they are a big part of the spread and can be topped by vaccinating them

The only determinant of whether an individual should be given a vaccine is a simple cost benefit analysis within that individual

DC under the age of 12 are at far more risk from the vaccine than they are from Covid, so there is no medical case for vaccinating them.

Political decisions, such as our obsession with trying to control the uncontrollable have no place in medical choices.

My kids have already had covid so th I don't feel like they should have the vaccine aswell as they should have natural immunity.
I've had my 3 jabs and have been horribly poorly after each one. I don't feel that it is fair to make young children have a needle, and then days of possible illness when the illness (at the moment) is mild for them. If that changes then of course it becomes more of a priority.
Why are they not developing another way of administrating it, like the flu Jab nasal spray? That would be much easier and less traumatic

I think we should vaccinate over-5s and I'm sure the recommendation will come in the next few months.

Data from the now millions of children aged 5-11 who have had the vaccine suggests cases of myocarditis are vanishingly rare and manageable where they do occur.

The risk of severe COVID may be low for children but the effects of repeated lockdowns and school closures on them also need to be taken into account.

I think I would probably get it for my primary aged children. I'd rather that than another couple of years of patchy education and social development, the last lockdown really affected my youngest. My only worry is that the uptake probably won't be high enough to prevent that anyway. Mine have missed so much school this year between lockdowns, self-isolating, year groups being closed down and then having COVID.

@DeepaBeesKit

Because the potential risks to them outweigh the benefits as currently known.

Yes and this is precisely the advice from the JCVI. Why on earth would any parent risk it

They don’t need a vaccine. They virtually never die, the ones who have died have largely already been very sick. My DC are under 12 and just had covid, bounced it off as easily as I did in my early 30s. It’s a mild illness for most people, children most of all.

The JCVI haven't given advice on vaccinating 5-11 AFAIK @wasthataburp and the advice they gave for the 12-15 group was that the benefits marginally outweighed the risks for healthy children.

I think it’s because they don’t really get sick with it

However, they are missing precious education by having to isolate when they get Covid, albeit mildly. So I think on balance it should be offered.

No one will make anyone give it to their child so I think it’s good to have the choice as it’s been found to be safe.

the ones who have died have largely already been very sick

^^
This comment really upsets me though. It should be offered at least to those with underlying conditions. Why on Earth does it matter less that children have died because they’re “very sick”? Their lives matter just as much.

Working with children has always been a muggy job though, why on earth you are now so bloody scared is stupid. Get your jabs and feel protected, do not think children should be forced to have a vaccine that will offer them little benefit just so you can feel better.

@GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing

the ones who have died have largely already been very sick

^^
This comment really upsets me though. It should be offered at least to those with underlying conditions. Why on Earth does it matter less that children have died because they’re “very sick”? Their lives matter just as much.

I agree.

Agree OP. The need is exacerbated by no other protections for this age group.

@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.

She didn’t even remotely say that.

@Chely

Working with children has always been a muggy job though, why on earth you are now so bloody scared is stupid. Get your jabs and feel protected, do not think children should be forced to have a vaccine that will offer them little benefit just so you can feel better.

Hmm, it’s almost as though something is different now, but what? Can’t quite think. Been on the news I’m sure 🤔

@Chely

Working with children has always been a muggy job though, why on earth you are now so bloody scared is stupid. Get your jabs and feel protected, do not think children should be forced to have a vaccine that will offer them little benefit just so you can feel better.

I agree though that it might have been unnecessary for that age group - if all of the adults who could have it had done so as soon as they were eligible.

@TremoloGreen

I think we should vaccinate over-5s and I'm sure the recommendation will come in the next few months.

Data from the now millions of children aged 5-11 who have had the vaccine suggests cases of myocarditis are vanishingly rare and manageable where they do occur.

The risk of severe COVID may be low for children but the effects of repeated lockdowns and school closures on them also need to be taken into account.

I think I would probably get it for my primary aged children. I'd rather that than another couple of years of patchy education and social development, the last lockdown really affected my youngest. My only worry is that the uptake probably won't be high enough to prevent that anyway. Mine have missed so much school this year between lockdowns, self-isolating, year groups being closed down and then having COVID.

This is an unacceptable twisting of medical science.

You cannot take political considerations (school closures) into account when weighing up medical decisions (to vaccinate or not)

It’s shocking that people are so ignorant as to even consider it.

you can when it's part of general health, including mental health.

Exactly. Don't think you understand how public health decisions are reached. School closures are not just political by any means.

If you want an example of how overall 'public benefit' decisions are used to make decisions in the UK's national vaccination programme, consider the Varicella vaccine which is approved for infant over 12 months but not adopted in UK for the general population (only those considered high risk for complication from chickenpox). Why? Because it's beneficial to keep chickenpox in the general population... for adults who have previously contracted chickenpox, being exposed to children with the condition gives an immunity boost that reduces the risk of shingles (which is much more likely to cause complications, peripheral nerve damage etc). Simply put, when it was costed, it's more expensive for people to have shingles than for children to have chickenpox, which is generally a mild disease (high-risk children excepted per policy).

Sorry if you don't like that, but that's exactly how it works... and isn't necessarily unreasonable IMHO. I think I already said that I feel my children are more likely to suffer harm from a patchy education/ limited social opportunities than from a COVID vaccination. At a population level you also have to think of harm to all childrens' education, social development, risk of abuse, risk of poverty because parents lose jobs/money due to lockdowns, being affected by parental mental health problems etc.

I won't be vaccinating my kids for the benefit of others! I don't care how selfish that sounds.

The vaccine is not approved by MHRA for use in under 12s yet. Due to the lower risk of Covid in the under 12s I am not surprised that the agency wanted more time to consider. Now that fDA and EMA have approved and there is real world evidence from a large body of administrations I’d expect to see approval soon.