15 yr old doesn't want the vaccine.

[legohurts16]

My 15 yr old DD does not want the covid vaccine. She doesn't think the benefits outweigh the risks. She is very mature and has read up on the subject and is adamant that at the moment she doesn't want it.

Her reasons are that it was - a rushed vaccine with little testing- the illness is so mild in children and teens that she doesn't think it is necessary. Me and my DH really want her to have it but I suppose ultimately it is her decision. Her 13 yr old brother and all her cousins have been vaccinated and in her friendship group it is literally half and half.

She says at the moment she isn't planning on going to Spain or the US so it isn't necessary. My hubby is adamant she has to have it and has booked her an appointment for Monday and will take her kicking and screaming if he has too. Funnily enough at the start of the pandemic he was the one who said there would be no way he would vaccinate our children against a mild illness but now omricon is here he is worried for her.

Should she be forced if we feel it is right or should she be free to make her own choice?

My friends teen had the vaccine despite really not wanting to. The reason was because her brother has a medical condition that makes him CEV and also he cannot have the vaccine due to the nature of the condition. She was told she was protecting him. She's had constant severe headaches ever since the vaccine. Teens that I've known including dd that had covid had a slight headache for a day or 2. Anyway she caught covid the other week, asymptomatically, passed it to her household including brother (who was fine thankfully) and is now pretty angry and feels she's been lied to.

So her research, as you've presented it, is obviously flawed. And she's fallen for disinformation as she's gone looking for things that back up her argument. This is a good learning moment for her if you sit down with her and go through the research. Her critical thinking skills need honed and it's a perfect place to start. I'd point out bodily autonomy is all well and good but she is living in a communal society in the middle of a public health crisis. Her decision doesn't just affect her.

People are talking like the worlds recovery from the covid pandemic rests solely on the shoulders of this 15 year old girl. As if it makes a difference when millions of others are choosing not to get vaccinated in the uk and billions worldwide don't even have the opportunity

What world do we live in where we are expecting our children and young people to protect us/older people

1914?
1939?

@Caramellatteplease

What world do we live in where we are expecting our children and young people to protect us/older people.

I hope we live in a world where young people are brought up to be proud when they are able to do something to protect the most vulnerable in society. (Which incidentally is not just the old, particularly with the in school transmission amongst CEV individuals who may not even be double vaccinated yet.)

You be horrified by someone calling a person who actively choses to be unvaccinated a selfish fucker.

I'll be horrified by the idea that protecting the vulnerable is society is not something to be expected or even a positive thing.

and yet for the last three years the lockdowns , restrictions and the resulting job losses and huge damage to the ecomomy have all been in the name of protecting cev/ the elderly . and yet we still have this bleating that they arent being looked after , protected , have been forgotten because society finally wants to get back to normal as best we can , quite frankly they have been protected , the bottom line is some of them still expect the rest of us to restrict ourselves for them and at this point a lot of people are now saying no , they need to protect themselves if they still dont feel safe , its not horrifying to not think kids should have to have a vaccine for a virus that only minimally affects them and a virus that is now a much weaker varient than before just so we can all think how positive it is they are being saints to society ,

YetAnotherSpartacus 2014 indeed. More than a hundred years ago now and I still get angry thinking about the waste and pointlessness of that.

Her body, her choice.

I’d just get your 15 year old to read the NHS guidance. Say this is the best info available.

Read it together and follow it.

No different to cancer treatment, or any other vaccine/infection etc.
I certainly wouldn’t be asking social media/people on Mumsnet.

I won't be vaccinating my child should it become available to his age group. Unless he decides he wants it. Up to him.

Brilliant @Waxonwaxoff0. Perhaps that should be the NHS tag line “your body your choice”. Be good to give that kind of blaze message to a child. Sounds very healthy.

@Beadebaser

Brilliant *@Waxonwaxoff0*. Perhaps that should be the NHS tag line “your body your choice”. Be good to give that kind of blaze message to a child. Sounds very healthy.

What's unhealthy about teaching children that?

Delta is on its way out, omicron is mild and will hopefully be over the wave in a month or so. Younger people aren’t affected much by covid anyway so unless she has underlying issues, she should be fine.

This.

Why get a jab that was targeting the original Alpha virus (and therefore not even that useful against Omicron) and that could affect her Menstruation, if the risks of catching omicron are so small for her?

Disgusting that your 'd'h thinks he can force her. It's her life, her body, her choice and she will have to live with it a lot longer than he will be around to see.

My DD wouldn’t take any medication if I gave her the ‘my body my choice’ option. Good job I insisted to her that she was given fluids when she was very ill.

At 15 I'd let her decide for herself. I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities for her to have it later if she changes her mind, which she may well do.

If she doesn't want it there is nothing you can do about it. A 15 year old with capacity can't be forced.

I want my DD to safely build up her immunity to Covid as she grows up - seeing as Covid won’t just ‘disappear’. Even though she may not be at risk now - who knows what will happen in the future.
Plus I want all the communities and services and adults that support her to be healthy - so YES, she will be having the vaccine.

@Beadebaser

My DD wouldn’t take any medication if I gave her the ‘my body my choice’ option. Good job I insisted to her that she was given fluids when she was very ill.

Well yes, but this is a vaccine for an illness that isn't dangerous for children on the whole, so it's different than needing necessary medication.

Entirely her choice and that should be respected. She may change her mind in future, but should not be pressured to do so.

"My DD wouldn’t take any medication if I gave her the ‘my body my choice’ option. Good job I insisted to her that she was given fluids when she was very ill."

But they will not vaccinate a 15 year old who does not consent unless there are capacity issues. There are other strong arm tactics but they may backfire.

and feels she's been lied to.
@liveforsummer
She was protecting him, that's not a lie. But shit does still happen to good people even when they do the right thing. not sure how she was lied too unless she was told side effects cant happen, which is completely irresponsible. DC saw me having a noticable reaction to the first vaccine and a significant reaction to the second. So they absolutely knew doing the right thing isnt without risk and it shouldn't be presented as such. As DD said even the one in whatever thousand has to be someone. My one in whatever million disability is my lovely DS. he doesn't deserve it either and its shitty when you are the unlucky one. That shouldn't devalue doing the right thing or how you feel about it.

They also saw the effort and difficulty I went to to get an alternative vaccine for my booster. Doing the right thing responsibly isnt always simple or easy. In the long run I might be another who is relying on others to do the right thing

That's assuming shes right and the headaches are related to the vaccine. Both me and DD developed headaches as a young teen probably because of normal hormonal changes. Number of people I met who still believe the MMR causes autism because the autism became apparent at the same time despite the genetic component being scientifically proven.

I'm very glad both her and her brother were ok when they had covid.

Ask your daughter to explain where she saw the vaccines weren’t tested properly.

Then teach her how that isn’t the case.

She thinks she’s researched it, but she hasn’t done so very well. So teach her how to research properly.

She may still decide she doesn’t want it because the risks vs benefits aren’t clear cut on an individual level if she’s considered fit and healthy. That’s OK. That’s a reasonable decision to make. She may later change that decision if she sees others getting sick and/or not having reactions to the vaccine. Or she may decide to help her community by having the vaccine.

There is also the possibility that she just feels forced into having it and so is using any excuse she can think for not getting it. So don’t force her. Just make sure the “not tested” thing is thoroughly debunked and leave it up to her.

I can’t see any other argument that is better than - reading the NHS guidance and following it.

I think anyone here who is trying to dissuade the OP from doing so - seriously needs to give their head a wobble.

Your 15 year old does not possess the ability to access, research and process that level of information; the majority don't. She has an opinion, which is valid whether you agree with it or not, but it's not an educated one.

As a side note, someone needs to talk to your husband about bodily autonomy and how it works; will he be taking her "kicking and screaming" for an abortion if she accidentally gets pregnant as well? Iffy ground.

The age of medical consent in the UK is 16. There is a reason for that.