Are you vaccinating your young child against covid ?

[LovelyYellowLabrador]

Feel a bit like we have to for travel insurance reasons
but bit unsure about it so just wanted to do a vote to get the thoughts of other parents of younger children of you are vaccinating your young child

yanbu = yes I’m vaccinating mine

yabu= no I’m not

in talking about primary school agar children age 5-10

There was a thread on this last week. But yes, my 7 year old son was vaccinated last week. No ill effects from the vaccine whatsoever. He had Covid at Christmas too - again with no effects.

Nope I have two children both have had covid which didn't cause them any issues. I'm not an anti vaxer I'm triple jabbed as I work in healthcare I just don't see the need to vaccinate them.

Already did. Teens vaccinated over a year ago, boostered etc. 5 and 7 year olds vaccinated 6 months ago.
Never considered not for a second, very glad I did.

No. No and no.

No, I honestly don't see the benefit. My children have had COVID and it was so mild and short lived, it doesn't seem to stop the spread anyway so the risk v's benefit just isn't worth it.

I haven't vaccinated my kids (5 and 7). Not sure why because I'm vaccinated but i just don't see the need. If they were doing it at school and i didn't have to organise it i might be more inclined to get them vaxxed

My 5 and 8yr olds were vaccinated a fortnight ago, had to push it back a few weeks as my eldest had covid in January and it has to be twelve weeks from a positive test. The nurse was great with them and they were delighted with their stickers and proud they were doing their bit to keep everyone safe!

I'm very much inclined not to bother TBH. Both mine have had Covid recently, with very mild symptoms, and we have no plans to travel anywhere it would be needed. Even the JCVI guidance was very "ya, whatever" regarding that age range. I don't know anyone IRL who is planning to, as far as I know. If I was inclined to, I would personally hold off till September when we head back into respiratory virus season + infection acquired immunity will have weakened. But honestly if you want to, go for it. It won't do any harm!

No. I'm not anti-vax but for various reasons didn't get round to it.

What's the impact on travel insurance? Part of reason I wasn't bothering now was because of the timeframe of getting them "fully vaccinated" for travel.

Just to add, I very much take issue with the idea of vaxxing kids to keep anyone else safe or whatever. The vaccines have a pretty limited impact on infection / transmission post- Omicron, as I think we've all seen this past winter. Their function is to protect the vaccinated from severe outcomes, which is of course why the JCVI are so unbothered about that age range.

Totally agree.
My DD has had covid twice recently as well.

My ds are 8 and 10. They are not having the vaccine.

I signed up for the vaccine, was triple dosed and really enthusiastic, believing in its benefits, but I’m now less and less convinced - to the point where, if my children were young again, I certainly would be having doubts about a pointless exercise.

I’ve never been anti vax and thought they were the way out of the pandemic but the longer this goes on, the more I suspect it actually has little overall impact on either severity or case numbers. I’ve known plenty of fully vaccinated people be very poorly and many unvaccinated have a mild dose or certainly no more severe. It seems literally down to how your own immune system responds to the virus. Omicron has exposed and brought this fact very clearly into focus for me.

I suspect cases and severity appears to have fallen because most of the population has had at least one dose and sadly, those that were most vulnerable have succumbed already. I also believe despite the massive vaccination drive, numbers will invariably rise again in the future and this will be an ongoing pattern for the rest of our lives. However, because Covid is now endemic, deaths and hospitalisations will remain low - not unlike the scenario when a remote tribe is first exposed to a common cold. Because their immune responses have initially not encountered the virus, casualties and acuteness is initially high but natural resistance quickly develops.

No, absolutely not

When people respond ‘No no no’ or ‘absolutely not’ with no further explanation, can I ask why? Is it because you believe it will cause harm?

Not being goady - am genuinely interested in all opinions. It seems to be a stronger reaction than just ‘I don’t think it’s necessary right now’.

Yes mainly to reduce hassle with travel. 10 yo had first jab a week ago - felt a little bit off the next day and a sore arm but otherwise fine

Yes - my 7 year old was vaxxed in February. She has had COVID once (fairly mild) but I am hoping vaccination will help avoid Long COVID or potential unknown effects of repeated infection. Exposure to the virus in schools is constant and we will undoubtedly get it again - who knows what the implications are of kids having this novel virus multiple times every year?

My DS’ are adults now can can make the decision for themselves, if they were little and I needed to make the decision, no I wouldn’t agree for them to have the vaccine, totally unnecessary for them to have it.

Good grief no. Not my 3 year old not my 14 year old

No - I don't see the point. They've had all the other standard jabs so that's probably more indicative of my laziness as a parent than anything else.

When people respond ‘No no no’ or ‘absolutely not’ with no further explanation, can I ask why? Is it because you believe it will cause harm?

We're not vaccinating our two (7 and 8). Not because we think it will harm them, but because they are ridiculously unlikely to get seriously ill if they do catch it.

They're otherwise fully-vaccinated (and I paid for the meningitis vaccine as they just missed out on having this on the NHS).

I think this is exactly right.

Its a question of balance. I ensured my children were vaccinated against all the potential serious/life threatening childhood illnesses but I don’t believe the risk - albeit very small - outweighs the benefits of protection against what is highly likely to be a very mild disease in the young. Don’t forget, the authorities took the same view with the AZ jab too.

I feel the same way about mass vaccinating children against flu too. I know there’s the argument that they can be superspreaders and potentially infect the elderly, but I would rather the resources were directed towards treating/prevention n the vulnerable cohort than expecting the young to be injected with something that is of no benefit to them at all.

DS5 has been fully vaccinated since January. We were faced with constant class closures for up to 2 weeks, in which I needed to take time off work. Being vaccinated meant he didn't have to stay home when he came into contact with anyone else testing positive. It also had an impact on travel. We had planned to see family in February and without being vaccinated, he would have had to quarantine at home for a week after.
I'm currently at home after testing positive and he's staying home with me. In theory, though, he could go to school.

We don't live in the UK, though. Rules here are different.

It could cause harm, it has caused heart issues, and there is a warning on the gov page.

I want to keep the risk at zero for mine.

Yes because our travel insurance requires it. You’ll find that most travel insurance policies have a clause that all people insured must have had vaccinations in line with the uk schedule. Otherwise potentially not covered. Don’t suppose a lot of people know this though.

My youngest is 11 and a half though. It’s a bit tight time wise trying to get him double vaxxed before we go away. Had to wait 90 days after the most recent covid infection before he could get the first jab.

I’d be more nervous if he was younger, 5 or so. But I don’t want to go on holiday with invalid travel insurance. So we’ve gone ahead.