Not to give my child Flu jab

[Binjob118]

My son is 6 and has been offered the nasal flu jab at school. He has had it the last 2 years and had no problems, but I now feel reluctant to give it to him. Does a healthy child really need this? I have to admit this change in my thinking has come about since the COVID vaccine rollout and the many vaccine injuries that seem to be being ignored by the MSM.

Yeah that just surprised me too

I'm all for vaccines for the child - but don't give it to the child for someone else's benefit...

Surely we're misunderstanding though because the elderly will get shots too?

I would never get a flu vaccine for my child. I’m a teacher and loads of parents decide not to get this and I 100% respect their decision.

Agree 100%. I never knew this was the reason they say for giving children flu vaccine but as the OP says I always thought healthy children don't need it but now I know thsts their reason for giving it, it sounds like the same bs excuse for getting people to take the covid vaccines "protect others" even though it turned out you could still get it and spread it after having the vaccines. But my children cone first to me before elderly people. And obviously if they were ill I wouldn't take them out and we don't have any elderly family whi cone around us

I also agree with these statements 100%. When it comes to my child, I do what’s best for my child. I don’t make decisions for my child based on what’s best for someone else. If someone is at risk of serious effects from flu then they are very welcome to take the flu vaccine in order to protect themselves. We didn’t take the covid vaccine due to being very concerned by the number of awful vaccine injuries and deaths in otherwise young healthy people from this particular vaccine (although we have taken all of our others as we deemed these to be in ours and our children’s best interests).

This idea that it's only for others' benefit is a really simplistic and binary way of thinking about it.

It's for their benefit too.

Nhs don't make costly decisions lightly

@babysharkdoodoodedoodedoo it's not the covid vaccine and cannot be compared.

Fwiw I didn't bother with ds1's second vax. Partly as I forgot.

He has asthma so definitely gets flu one.

NHS Scotland does give it as the main reason though Link

It isn't to protect the elderly and vulnerable because they can get their own and usually earlier than school role out. DS, 8, had his jab two weeks ago along with me. School are doing spray this week. Preschoolers are having their sprays at GP same day.
It's to protect THEM.

The NHS Scotland website literally says it is to protect the elderly. Any benefit to the child is an afterthought.

Why is that a reason not to give it?

Because that’s morally unethical to me. I’ve stated for me because I recognise it’s a personal choice and I’m not trying to imply or suggest that those who make different choices are wrong, but I do not believe young children should be having vaccinations to benefit others, particularly when those others are adults and presumably able to have their own flu vaccinations.

This thread is a real eye opener and indicative of the changing public opinion around childhood vaccines since covid. It’s quite shocking to see it so clearly demonstrated.

My DD will have the flu vaccine (which is a spray, not a jab) because it will reduce the likelihood of her getting flu, which can be dangerous for young children.

I know that they’re totally different. I just mean to illustrate that this was another example of it not being in the child’s best interest to take the vaccine. But that we did give the children other vaccines as we felt it was in their best interest.

Most posters hesitating over the flu vaccine have had the normal childhood immunisations.

Do as you wish. My 13 year old has never had it (i’ve never had a flu jag either) & my younger at 9 haven’t. Oldest was only one in her class 1st few years then a couple more declined. Youngest class they weren’t the only one & about 10 don’t get it with one less or so each year.

Yes "the elderly" get theirs probably before the kids my parents got theirs mid September.

To everyone who says they won’t give a vaccine to their children to protect the elderly - it’s in everyone’s best interests to prevent the elderly from being admitted to hospital for a preventable infection. That is a hospital bed and a lot of NHS resources being taken up unnecessarily. In December last year there were 3700 people in hospital in England with the flu each day. How would you feel if you or your relatives needed those beds and resources but couldn’t have them because so many people got flu, completely needlessly?

I am very very happy for my kids to have the flu vaccine. I have one too through my work.

I would wonder why the elderly didn’t have their own flu vaccination to be honest. I’m honestly not trying to be awkward or argumentative here. I genuinely don’t know why my child has to have a flu vaccine to protect someone else who should also have had the flu vaccine!

As an ex ITU nurse who has seen just how bad flu can be I think YABU

My dcs grandparent is immunosuppressed but I would give it anyway

What do these loons actually think the vaccines are doing? Mind control? Tracking? Yes Julie Bill Gates is really bothered that you went to Waitrose instead of sainsburys last Wednesday

My children have the flu nasal vaccine through school.

I was relieved that they fell under the age groups that were heavily pushed into covid vaccines a couple of years ago.

The difference is that the flu vaccine was well established before being rolled out to younger age groups. The risk of unpleasant side effects outweighing the personal benefit is low. The delivery of nasal sprays is relatively ininvasive.

Both covid vaccines I had side effects that were worse than the actual illness. I felt blackmailed into the booster because of the looming threat of lockdowns. I still got covid two weeks later, and months of lockdowns still occured 3 weeks later. The covid vaccines are very positive at reducing death rates, and serious illness in vulnerable people, but the risk/ benefit to my children of the covid vaccines was less favourable than the flu or other routine vaccines. I also didn't want my children to have an association that vaccines make them ill and put them at risk of refusing more beneficial vaccines in the future such as HPV. It was worth releasing covid vaccines as an emergency measure to vulnerable demographics, but not worth forcing on all (or most).

I am generally pro-vaccine, and I am also pro-choice. I'd like to see high vaccine take up because people recognise the benefits, and not because they're threatened by job loss or removed access to services. It's more beneficial to be able to have open discussion about vaccines without shaming than to push people with doubts to be drawn in to more extreme conspiracy views.

With respect, that's an ideological stance because you're not giving any scientific, practical, evidenced reasons to not the vax.

I think it's unethical to not give it unless theres individual reasons pertinent to the child from a Medical or neurodiverse pov.

"Protecting the elderly" means in real terms: (off the top of my head as I bet there's more)

•Additional protections on top of their own vax due to lower social circulation.
•Less likelihood of hospitalisation which eases general nhs pressures for beds, ICU, staffing, appointments, waiting lists.
•less likelihood of serious illness which means less reliance on the probability of needing various drugs (free prescriptions which obviously costs the nhs), worsening of other conditions and the need for carers (either nhs or family.)

They can't say it directly protects the nhs and access to Gp appts and nhs funding if a wide variety of services because that's a butterfly effect. But as a whole, on a bigger picture level, it's does.

Not to mention, as stated earlier, child school absences and staff absences. We know that's detrimental to education. (As an aside, There's a very big issue among teen girls with school refusal at the moment.)

Covid has near doubled all those pressures, so the nhs wants to target what they can in way they know work as much as they can.

But if the elderly (those who need it) have been vaccinated, why do children need to be vaccinated too? That’s a genuine question - sorry not phrasedawell, I’m feeding!

The flu jab is less effective in older people, as in it doesn’t produce as effective an immune response. So reducing the amount of flu in circulation helps. As does reducing the numbers of healthcare workers, teachers and other essential workers catching it. Some things really are worth thinking about at a societal level, if that’s still possible.

Yes, let’s teach out children that if something doesn’t obviously and directly benefit yourself, don’t do it. Because consideration of others or looking at the bigger picture isn’t going to hell them through life. and that a minor inconvenience for me isn’t worth someone’s life potentially 🙄