Schools should offer yearly Covid jab instead of flu

[SteakBakesAndHotTakes]

If we can have one, Covid is more common than flu, spreads more easily than flu, and although flu causes more severe illness at time of infection, repeated exposure to Covid increases the chance of long Covid for the child and the rest of the family.

I would rather both but if we had to pick one, my kids have brought home Covid four times and I would rather they be inoculated against it.

Did you mean to quote me? It's got nothing to do with paying for jabs?

I suffered multiple burst blood vessels in my skin from the vaccine (the biggest 1 at the injection site) and am now covered in red scars all over my body that only thousands of pounds in lazer treatments can reduce, i was refused the 2nd jab but the drs wont admit that it was caused by the vaccine even though I'd never had any before and they stopped appearing about 2 weeks after the jab and I've had no new ones since, nor will they investigate to see what other damage its caused internally.
I'm also pro vaccinations but I feel that the covid vaccine was rushed out without enough testing and for most healthy people is not worth the risks of harm vs the benefit gained from it.

It’s based on cost OP, but yes, on a population level would make more sense to give it for covid. 1,000 children per week get long covid and obviously many parents now have health issues from covid too. We seem to have very low eligibility criteria and choice compared to other countries with regard to the covid vaccine. Our government destroyed over £1bn of covid vaccines, whilst reducing eligibility.

Vaccinating every kid for covid would create far more adverse reactions to the vaccine than it would prevent cases of severe covid in that age group. The risk to benefit ratio just isn't there. This is why hardly any countries recommend vaccinating healthy children. It would create more problems in response to a "problem" that is pretty much non existent. Its very selfish to want to subject kids to possible severe side effects just because you feel like it would help you not get sick (it wouldn't anyway).

An accurate comment. It always puzzled me that the Government was willing to offer free COVID jabs to children (where the risk was very low) but was not willing to offer free chickenpox vaccinations where the risk was relatively much higher.

Schools don't "offer" any jabs. The NHS does.

We are a bit of an outlier in that other countries manage to offer chickenpox and covid vaccines to children.

The UK is bringing in the chicken pox vaccine now, but agree we've been behind the curve there.

One of the reasons was a belief that shingles rates in older people would rise if there was less 'wild' chicken pox circulating. This was always a theory and there was no evidence, hence JCVI no longer cite it as a rationale. Personally, I was not very persuaded by the idea that my DC should be taking one for the team, and paid privately instead.

I know no one who has Long Covid so its not a big issue for most. Covid wasnt dangerous for children. You seem rather obsessed. If you want to - get it done privately.

Really - which countries routinely vaccination children for covid. My country does for chicken pox but not covid - the risks versus benefits just don't stack up.

Personally I know several people with Long Covid, two of whom are children. It's entirely possible you do too. The people I know who have it have only told certain people, as they have others in their lives who they know would only react with cruelty or dismissiveness, so they chose not to share with them. You certainly don't sound like someone people would feel comfortable confiding their health issues in.

We are no longer being offered the Covid vaccine in the NHS, not that I would have had it anyway. I only ever had it to be able to travel.
DS doesn't get the flu vaccine at school anymore. I think he only had one covid vaccine.

"long COVID" was another lovely elusive label for certain personality types to latch onto

Absolutely not... Cannot see the point of vaccinating against the flu or covid myself!

I agree that I never got the logic that children should be allowed to get chickenpox (for example leading in the case of my eldest being hospitalised) in order to protect the elderly from getting shingles.

To children being vaccinated against COVID where there was a minimal risk to young people, but in order to protect the elderly getting COVID (wait entirely failed to do).

I guess in society old people matter more than children.

Really?. Flu can be deadly to children and the elderly. Why wouldn't you?

There are so many children affected. It’s awful the attitudes some have to endure on top of this. I hope some treatments are forthcoming. Long covid isn’t rare, yet there’s a strange sort of wilful blindness from some - ignoring lived experience, data, research, scientists, economists etc.

Interesting, when did your country stop? Which countries said that risks of vaccinating children outweighed risks of covid infection? I’m not aware of any, but am open. Even if reduction in chance of getting long covid, reduction in onward transmission etc, I can’t see any that are excluded purely on a risk/benefit basis. America, Canada, Australia, China, France, Spain and others still routinely offer the covid vaccine. We have been quite miserly with vaccination (not just for children) most of the way through the pandemic compared to other countries.

I'm in Australia and the official advice is here: https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/covid-19-vaccines/getting-your-vaccination
Children without risks factors are not eligible for the primary course of covid vaccination anymore (so first doses) and covid boosters are not recommended for children without severe immunocompromise.