Teens will not be routinely vaccinated, JCVI recommends

[noblegiraffe]

Their report isn't out till tomorrow, but continuing with the govt tradition of making big announcements via favoured news outlets, the Telegraph reports that the guidance will be that children aged 12+ will not be offered routine covid vaccinations.

"Instead, under guidance due to be issued on Monday, jabs will be offered to children between 12 and 15 who are deemed vulnerable to Covid or who live with adults who are immunosuppressed or otherwise vulnerable to the virus. They will also now be offered to all 17-year-olds within three months of their 18th birthday."

www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/07/17/children-will-get-covid-vaccines-vulnerable/

So from September, there will be literally nothing stopping covid spreading around schools bar the odd open window.

@Wellbythebloodyhell - Germany’s uptake is similar to the US’ so far yet Germany aren’t recommending under 18s take the vaccine.

ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations

It bloody well should be offered to, at the very least, children going into year 13. Why tf should they both be excluded from flu vaccinations and covid vaccination whilst simultaneously being expected to remain healthy enough for driving lessons and tests and revision and the taking of A-level exams, just because they are not quite 18, yet? Why the ludicrous 3 months before your 18th birthday, however difficult that makes the timing? Why not just let them choose to get vaccinated now? It’s not as if they will not be expected to vaccinate in less than a year, anyway, ffs.

I reckon they should do something similar to the flu vaccine. Charge people who aren’t eligible.

So, if someone wants their child vaccinated but they don’t fall in to any of the categories that make them vulnerable, pop down to your local Boots and pay £20 for the privilege.

They could at least claw back some of the money they pissed away over nightingale hospitals and T&T…

@noblegiraffe

C) is already dealt with, Indigo, from August 16th kids will not need to isolate even if they lick a positive case.

Not fully. With high infection rates many activities will not be open to children. My son who has ASD has had many of his activites cancelled.

Great, wonder how many more children are going to have long covid. If offered I'd have def wanted my 12 year old to have it and he agrees. With the amount of cases out there now, it's most likely he will get it. I've just got to hope he doesn't get long covid.

@PaulaPetunia

I agree that action on mitigation in schools in what is clearly not a short term issue is overdue. Our scout group seem better led.

Well said.

So much for personal responsibility. The choice is - child in education with absolutely no mitigation against covid which causes long covid in about 8% of children. Or child not in education, fines, attempt to homeschool unsupported by schools (which a lot of parents aren't equipped for).

There is no choice, no way for people to protect themselves or their families if they want their children educated.

I don't understand why those who don't want to jab their kids - and would in no circumstance ever be forced to - are determined to take the choice away from everyone else.

No-one has to get the MMR either. Vaccines are voluntary in this country.

I would like the option to jab my child because my reading of the evidence is that the risk of long covid or PIMS is higher than the risk of the vaccine to my child. And in this country I don't think there's any way to avoid your child catching covid eventually without any mitigation against aerosols in schools.

I don't understand why those who don't want to jab their kids - and would in no circumstance ever be forced to - are determined to take the choice away from everyone else

But it’s the JCVI who have made the decision, not the parents who don’t want their children vaccinated. They have no more effect on policy than teachers do.

@halcyondays

How can it? It’s a completely different virus?

It primes the immune system. Remember how there was discussion a year ago about how the BCG and measles vaccine offers some protection.

parents who don’t want their children vaccinated. They have no more effect on policy than teachers do.

Unconvinced by this, given that one of the members of the JCVI has been supporting Us4Them, a ‘parent-led’ political campaign group who have lobbied heavily against vaccinating kids.

Not fully. With high infection rates many activities will not be open to children. My son who has ASD has had many of his activites cancelled.

Sorry to hear this but it's absolutely true. A lot of businesses are taking steps the government won't (just as at the start of the pandemic when many companies were implementing home working and cancelling conferences while the government pushed for Cheltenham to go ahead).

I think this is the right decision. Another pp made this point on another thread that why should we vaccinate our younger teens just because some adults are refusing and I agree with that. We are also in the privileged position of having high adult uptake and so may not necessarily need to vaccinate children to achieve herd immunity. It’s good to wait and see. We can, for once, watch and wait and see what happens in other countries who are vaccinating their children because they have a greater need due to lower adult uptake.
I also agree with the point about us in the rich west vaccinating our teens when adults in poorer nations remain unvaccinated. That is a terrible situation and people should think about that here. Cv and cev children devoted of course. I agree they should get vaccine if their doctor recommends it. I am talking about our healthy teens.

@noblegiraffe

parents who don’t want their children vaccinated. They have no more effect on policy than teachers do.

Unconvinced by this, given that one of the members of the JCVI has been supporting Us4Them, a ‘parent-led’ political campaign group who have lobbied heavily against vaccinating kids.

Our government is rotten and the scientists who advise them are compromised. That's the only possible explanation for what is happening.

And I think they're trolling us now, to be honest.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-57860969

I reckon they should do something similar to the flu vaccine. Charge people who aren't eligible
We don't have enough vaccines to do this at present, and most likely won't for a few years.

@sashagabadon

I think this is the right decision. Another pp made this point on another thread that why should we vaccinate our younger teens just because some adults are refusing and I agree with that. We are also in the privileged position of having high adult uptake and so may not necessarily need to vaccinate children to achieve herd immunity. It’s good to wait and see. We can, for once, watch and wait and see what happens in other countries who are vaccinating their children because they have a greater need due to lower adult uptake. I also agree with the point about us in the rich west vaccinating our teens when adults in poorer nations remain unvaccinated. That is a terrible situation and people should think about that here. Cv and cev children devoted of course. I agree they should get vaccine if their doctor recommends it. I am talking about our healthy teens.

What will be worst for poorer nations is if we develop a vaccine resistant variant, which we're on course to do.

Also, the vaccine we'd give our kids would be the Pfizer which is not suitable for use in many poorer nations - they will be using AZ (they often don't have the infrastructure to distribute the mRNA vaccines in the conditions they need to be kept before they expire). It's a false argument that kids in richer countries are preventing poorer nations from having enough supply - they're not.

I wouldn't actually mind if I was banned from the choice of getting my kid a vaccine (that's what this is - NO-ONE who doesn't want their kid vaccinated with ANYTHING has to) if there was proper mitigation in schools.

But there isn't.

Oh. I thought if they got the vax it might mean less actual positive cases because even if children don't need to isolate having to get a PCR each time they are identified as being a contact could be pretty disruptive. Arguably potentially more so than isolating if online school is accessible. I just hope the PCR testing provision is up to the job.

Those who are adamant about vaccinating teens.

Your trust the JCVI with all the other decisions about the adult vaccination programme, but in this case it is a bad decision.

So adults who refuse the vax are dumb and not doctors or scientists, but because they use their medical and scientific training to decided not to vax teens, now you have a facebook medical degree.

They are doing their job.

@noblegiraffe

parents who don’t want their children vaccinated. They have no more effect on policy than teachers do.

Unconvinced by this, given that one of the members of the JCVI has been supporting Us4Them, a ‘parent-led’ political campaign group who have lobbied heavily against vaccinating kids.

Really?!

@hedgehogger1

Do they not understand about how new variants come about? We're going to turn schools into variant factories

Why have a massive world-size variant factory atm.

It’s the optics though emperor. I am not suggesting a vaccine given here in the U.K. directly stops one being given to a health worker in Africa but it does look terrible and is terrible. People that advocate for our healthy teens to get vaccines for a disease that really doesn’t impact them much in a country with 80+ % single jabbed in the adult population needs to really check their privileged a bit. Hate that phase but it does seem useful here.
I would actually like to see 16+ get offered vaccine but under 16 not at the moment. Let’s wait and see what happens in other countries first. Why do we have to go first with this?

So you can join the army at 16 but not get the vaccine?

Why do we have to go first with this?

We are not the first to do it by a long shot.

Why do we have to go first with this?

You do realise that other countries have already been doing this?

@ChloeDecker

Why do we have to go first with this?

We are not the first to do it by a long shot.

But why the rush? Let’s see what happens in countries that have to vaccinate their children. We are lucky in that we have high adult uptake and the risk/ benefit is not the same as lower vaxed countries. Why not take advantage of that and wait? That’s my point really. That and the terrible optics.

our healthy teens to get vaccines for a disease that really doesn’t impact them much in a country with 80+ % single jabbed in the adult population needs to really check their privileged a bit.

It does affect them though if testing positive or being a contact of someone testing positive means their education is disrupted. What's privileged about that? Education is supposed to bridge the inequality gap.

Your trust the JCVI with all the other decisions about the adult vaccination programme, but in this case it is a bad decision.

I didn’t trust them when they went against WHO advice and did not put education staff on the vaccination list in the second phase but they did put WFH social workers, art therapists and Lollipop people at the time. Look at the mess schools are all in at the moment. Just my opinion though.