To say no to covid vaccine for DS?

[Clarabell77]

My DS10 has asthma - mild albeit a chest infection 14 months ago ended up in an overnight in hospital on a nebuliser/steroid and he’s had to have a steroid once during that time for another infection.

He’s been identified as being at risk and offered a Covid vaccine. I’m not sure whether to allow him to have it as I’m sure he’s had Covid quite a few times when we’ve all tested positive at home - can’t test him as he won’t let me near him with a swab. He’s had mild symptoms, even when ours weren’t.

He’s had the flu vaccine twice and taken unwell within weeks on both occasions so I’ve opted out of that one this year. Does anyone have any thoughts on the Covid one? Ideally someone who has actual knowledge, not from YouTube, I’m not a covid denier or anti vaxxer.

AIBU to not get him the vaccine?

Leaving aside the covid jab for a minute.

what do you mean your son took ill several weeks after the flu jab? Took ill how? and how exactly do you know that’s linked to the flu jab ?

"nothing to do with the jab".

You cannot make that assertion. You are not in a position to know.

Agree with RunnerDown and some other posters saying that you have to make that risk/benefit assessment.

The risk/benefit ratio for COVID vaccination in young boys and men is less clear than other age groups because of things like myocarditis. That is well documented now. However, when you add co-morbidities into the mix including asthma the benefit of vaccination outweighs the risk. Yes there is a risk and you are hearing about some of that in this thread. But there is a benefit.

The decision is hard in boys of this age group but Covid in individuals with asthma can be very serious, despite having Covid before.

People attribute a lot to the vaccine when they also don't know, why is one deemed more credible than the other? All vaccines have side effects and sadly with a global roll out of this scale its not surprising their were some deaths and serious adverse affects, but the attribution of any condition by some is wild and not based in any reality. It's like the social media scientists who keep talking about the increase in cancers in young people; they negate to say/are too research illiterate to mention and acknowledge that the data was collected for a period that ended in 2019- before covid or vaccines. The truth is somewhere in between, of course adverse reactions are real, but also of course not every medical issue is related just because someone had a vaccine.

I understand that however children aged 10 with mild asthma are not getting ‘awful outcomes’ from any of the variants past or present so it seems a bit of a leap.

HI, well interesting enough (I think!) I had this dilemma this week for my DS14. I am offered both flu and covid owing to meds for longterm autoimmune disease. DS was offered because of his "winter wheeze" which he had as a child and then again triggered c.2 1/2 years ago after covid. Hasn't needed the inhalers/wheezed for about 18 months - 2yrs. We have looked into the pros and cons and decided against him having it as fit young teens don't generally become ill with covid but he is in cohort for possible heart side effects from the jab.
I would definitely give him the flu vaccine - and go for the jab over the live nasal one.
Covid one is up to you both obviously but I agree it is a difficult decision.

This new variant sounds like a nasty one, especially for the vulnerable. Apparently you feel unwell and then once you think you are getting better, it comes back for a second, nastier go. I don't know if the most current vaccine offers cover for it though or if the variant appeared after it was manufactured. It is maybe worth finding out whether this variant is as bad as what the newsfeeds are suggesting (it could just br scaremongering but then again, it might not) and whether docs are expecting the latest vaccine to be effective against it.

He's a 10 year old, not a baby.

And some reasons would help.

I am very very pro-vaccine so am biased.

however another thing to think about is if he does get more unwell than he has done previously, what is your work situation like? Can you afford to take extra time off to care for him? How do you feel about missed school? (This is part of my thinking re the chicken pox vaccine - my little one is unlikely to be seriously unwell but as a solo parent it would be difficult to miss so much work/school)

No... if I had a choice when they were rolled out I wouldn't have one. The only reason I took was to be able to travel to my dying mother, otherwise I would've stayed put. I take flu vaccine but not Covid. The potential risk or blood clot in my brain it's just too much for me to handle mentally.

Thank you, I wasn’t aware of that, it was the nasal one he got on both occasions so I might look into the injection. I feel I’d rather protect him against flu than Covid given he’s had the latter a few times and it’s been so mild.

You seem to be implying that there is a relationship between the flu vaccine and getting ill twice quickly afterwards OP? What is your thinking? Are you thinking it just didn’t provide protection, so what’s the point or that it somehow depleted the immune system?

If the former then chances are it wasn’t flu that was contracted anyway. You would really know if you have proper flu and not a cold. The flu vaccine will not provide any protection against a cold.
If the latter a more likely explanation is that the flu vaccine was administered at the time of year were colds start circulating in earnest again, so it was just a coincidence and you would have had them anyway.

Everyone in my family who has been offered covid or flu vaccines either from the NHs or via work has taken them up. None of us wish to have covid, long covid or flu. The risk has been assessed by scientists who know what they are talking about and weighed up against the cost to the public purse and they’ve come down on the side of us being vaccinated. I am very much going to listen to the people who know far more about this than I do.

What is your role?

I suppose I’m nervous about potential covid vaccine side effects, especially given he’s already had Covid and it wasn’t much more than a cold for him. I know the vaccine risks would be minimal, but I don’t feel he’s at risk at all with Covid based on the fact he’s had it before and been okay. I feel I’m going against medical advice if he doesn’t get it, so it’s making me think twice and it’s probably not a big deal but you always think “what if”…

I'm not letting my son have them, he's never had the flu jab either as he absolutely freaks with regards to needles. He's had covid twice and is only ever ill for a day, falls asleep longer than usual then wakes up the next day totally fine, covid for me however kicked my ass much worse after I was made to get the jab...

Th flu vaccine that is usually given to kids isn’t an injection so there are no needles involved!

Why such a provocative response? Please can you elaborate?

My sons adenoids are enormous so we've been told it's quite pointless anyway as anything you put up his nose just falls straight out, plus it's the flu it's not that dramatic.

He’s had the flu vaccine twice and taken unwell within weeks on both occasions so I’ve opted out of that one this year.

How to say you have no idea how vaccinations work, without saying you have no idea how vaccinations work.

Quite. Last year the vaccine programme was offered to a narrower range of people? They have expanded it again this year and I don't think it is because they have loads of spare vaccine lying around!

OP please get proper advice from a GP. They can explain whether your DS' reaction to the flu jabs was that or a coincidence and what the possible consequences of not having a covid vaccine for DS will be.

Some people's thought processes are really scary aren't they?

They didn’t phone me. As I said, my child is healthy and has no underlying health issues so I’m confused about why they sent it. They don’t routinely offer children the covid jab. so why did they offer it my healthy child, who have never had covid, lung problems, or any of the previous jabs?

And yes, they do try to use up jabs as they have a short shelf life. I work at a hospital and the nurses trawl around the place trying to vaccinate people at the end of the working day, so no it’s not ridiculous

😂