Vaccine for 5+

[NotTheBaby]

It’s on sky news now. Leaked document stating 5 year olds and above to be vaccinated from spring. I’m so hesitant to get my children done, when I couldn’t wait for mine. Why is this so much harder than it should be? Or am I just overthinking it?

There's lots of benefits. I'll be delighted to get my youngest vaccinated. Then the whole family will be protected from the Covid virus and we can all move on.

@SandraYeason your five year old grandson has read peer reviewed scientific papers?

I haven't checked the accuracy of this - but there's another thread on here about a 6yr old with COVID, and multiple posters are saying 1000 kids are being hospitalised each month with COVID, and that it's hitting children harder than people think.

Haven't checked it, I have no idea if that is correct. Obviously children aren't dying from it, but I think there's more than suggested who are having a pretty rough time of things. And then there's also Long COVID to consider - a friend's son is being referred to the paediatrician because of suspected Long COVID.

I have 12yr old DC - they won't be having the COVID jab as they're both autistic and I have zero chance of persuading them to let a needle near them. But we home educate now so I'm less concerned, they have minimal exposure to the virus. I'm double jabbed and about to have my booster.

I'll be getting mine vaccinated. The main reason for me is that government have made it clear that they will do nothing to reduce risks of children catching covid, despite all the links to organ damage. For me, vaccine seems the better option.

Thousands of children a month are currently being hospitalised a month in the UK with Covid so yes my children will be having the vaccine as soon as possible. The incidence of issues like myocarditis is still higher after Covid than after vaccination and I don’t want to risk them having long covid. The vaccine is already being rolled out in the US and Canada. I just wish we didn’t have to wait until spring.

I don’t support vaccinating such young children for a virus which is largely unsymptomatic or presents as a cough.

Unfortunately this is not about the kids but adults and politics. Like the flu vaccine it will be used to protect adults rather than the children themselves (more children die of chicken pox than flu annually yet we don’t routinely vaccinate for chicken pox). It will be used for vaccine passports to allow travel, certain countries will demand it.
Ultimately in the UK at least I suspect mass testing will come to an end in the Spring and having offered vaccines to the majority of children will be a reason the government can use to support this ending (as if the cost and plastic waste generated weren’t enough).

I’m glad it will be provided to vulnerable children where the benefits of the vaccine are greater than to the general population.

I’ll be getting my two vaccinated as soon as possible. My youngest has congenital heart disease and, despite having had COVID already, his cardiologist has said he should have the vaccine as soon as possible.

@byvirtue, the problem is, how do you know your child is going to be vulnerable to it, until they have it? Or do you mean with children with other vulnerabilities?

It's better to have a choice to get vaccinated, so it's a good news.

No one is forcing anyone. So no point in worrying about it, just don't get your children vaccinated if you don't want them to.

Excellent news, hopefully this means they Will offer a 2nd one to the 12 to 15 cohort.

@Heruka

And in the meantime, older and vulnerable people all across the world in developing nations who are actually at risk from covid, have not had the opportunity to be vaccinated.

Absolutely spot on. So sad

[quote NotTheBaby]@byvirtue, the problem is, how do you know your child is going to be vulnerable to it, until they have it? Or do you mean with children with other vulnerabilities?[/quote]
That's the reason some people choose to vaccinate their children, and it's good to have choice.
The risk of the vaccine is way lower compared to that of virus. And with new virus, we can never be sure that our children have it mild, or the one of unlucky ones who do suffer.

And lucky for us in UK, by the time we started 12+ we had data from other countries, and we will also have data for 5+ from other countries too.

This js an interesting one!

I was discussing this with my childminder and she said that she (and the other 5 childminders in the local area) were discussing this on their wattsapp group and the consensus is that all are in agreement to make it mandatory if children want to attend the setting. Sounds fair enough to me they have to protect themselves, their business and everyone as a whole; also they all have big waiting lists so one awkward person not wanting it, their place will be filled.

There are 2 primary's near by too and there is 2 separate external companies who provide wraparound care and holiday clubs for school children and these may go the same way I guess?

Never mind people not being able to go on a Disney cruise, how about people just functioning day to day on a practical basis? Children missing school etc....

Although younger children generally just present with "a cough" it's still not nice for them and in the hospital I work in there's been some children very poorly with Covid in the hospital 🏥

Wow I cannot imagine those childminders getting much business to be honest. Assume they take said kids to soft plays, etc etc it has load of unvaccinated kids!

Mine won’t be getting it. I won’t be risking their health for the greater good and benefit of those older than them. If that means not going to certain places then fine. I’m really angry that governments think it’s ok for young children to be experimented on. And I say this as someone who is double jabbed and waiting to get my booster shot.

This is chilling news.

I'm bit surprised that this 'nudge' is starting now, buttering us up for the new year.

I'm fully vaxxed and boostered but I won't be consenting to my children being vaxxed.

*not, not bit.

My child will have it. I'm not a doctor or a scientist. I do not have the wherewithal, the time, the headspace or the resources to conduct actual research, unlike doctors and scientists. I do not know what's in any of his childhood vaccines, but I trust that they have saved millions of lives and are mainly safe. I do not know what's in his inhaler, the antibiotics he's taken, his calpol, or any other medication he's ever had. To be honest I probably don't fully know what's in Ribena or cheesy Quavers...

My point is that I have trusted the doctors so far and it's worked out well. I'm not about to stop mid pandemic in the face of an evolving and still new virus

@Slayduggee

I think it will be more difficult to holiday to some destinations in the future if children are not jabbed. Disney Cruises have already announced from February 2022 (I think) that all traveller from 5 years old must be vaccinated to travel.

But if the vaccine is done in the same way as 12-15 year olds in this country, 5-11 year olds will just have one dose so won’t count as vaccinated for travel anyway.

The problem is, the vaccine is not preventing people from catching covid and being ill with it. It may reduce severe disease in most cases, but people are still becoming quite ill, despite vaccination.Vaccination also doesn't prevent transmission.

My two teens have had covid. They had very mild symptoms. One teen has been vaccinated because it was said to be a requirement for going to nightclubs, but the other hasn't yet. I am double vaccinated and will need a booster in January.

Teens at dc's school were vaccinated last week before the advice changed to have 3 months between covid infection and vaccination. Is this putting people at risk of complications?

Is 6 monthly vaccines the way forward forever now? In which case, are we going to be officially told that this is the reality. There needs to be more discussion and openness about what is happening if they want to get people onboard.

It worries me because it’s not just going to be “offered”, it

The pp who mentioned childminders wanting it to be mandatory - that’s a joke when we don’t even have mandatory vaccinations for far more serious things, and just shows how skewed people’s thinking has become on this.

My DD is 4 so I’d have time to sit and watch how it goes. But others in my family, including doctors, have said they are uncertain too about having their very young children vaccinated, in a way they absolutely aren’t about older teenagers, adults or any of the usual childhood vaccines.

Those childminders are free, as a private business, to set their own rules. But hypocritical as I am guessing they don't require MMR or whooping cough vaccinations etc. I may be wrong and they may insist on a full vaccination schedule for every child and have done for years. If they haven't then I could see many children leaving their care and struggling to fill spaces. Agree with PP why are we vaccinating children in this country when those at risk in other countries haven't had it. We should be out there helping them not coercing parents into vaccinating their children

I'd like DS 10 to be vaccinated so he can see his CEV adult DB before he dies. But I'll let him choose.