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Original poster

Parents of 12yr olds to vaccinate or not vaccinate that's my big struggle! Advice please?

124 replies

sparklymumSW4 · 02/02/2022 19:48

Hi all,
So let me start by saying myself and hubster all jabbed up inc booster and I work in the NHS so I'm by no way against the covid vaccine personally and I 100% accept the decisions of those who choose not to BUT... not sure how I feel about kids vaccines my twins turn 12 in a few weeks and I'm struggling over vaccinating them or not one child is happy to have it an the other is not ultimately I will make the decision but I just don't feel like I want them to have it right now as they are still quite small and I had a horrendous reaction to all 3 jabs.... would love to hear from parents of those turning 12 soon and those who have turned 12 and your opinions. Thanks

OP posts:
QuentininQuarantino · 03/02/2022 06:32

DC who is 8 has had it as have half his class. We’re in Europe though. Offered him the choice as it’s his body. He is too young to make an informed decision but if he’d been totally against it I don’t think I’d have taken him. There was a girl there in frantic tears which made me uncomfortable.

HelenaJustina · 03/02/2022 06:37

My 12 and 14yr olds are both double jabbed. 14yr old was delighted to get it, they are v anxious about catching COViD. 12yr old subsequently had asymptomatic COVID so was definitely protected from the worst of the virus. Neither of them have caught it from a younger sibling who has had the infection in January, which has meant their schooling is less disrupted.

They both also had flu jab and the older one will have their HPV later this Spring.

DaisyWaldron · 03/02/2022 06:39

DS, aged 12, was happy to have his vaccine. My take on vaccinating 12 year old boys is that getting the vaccine is less risky than getting Covid, so if there is a high chance of catching Covid then it's worth getting the vaccine. With very high levels levels of Covid in schools and the wider community and very few measures being taken to stop the spread, getting the vaccine seemed the least risky option right now. I might have made a different call if community transmission levels were low.

TimeForLunch · 03/02/2022 06:46

For international travel only. Zero point in it otherwise.

liveforsummer · 03/02/2022 06:53

Dd caught covid a few days after her 12th birthday. She was absolutely fine. She has seen others be unwell from their vaccines and (rightly imo) decided why would she have a vaccine that might make her more ill than the actual illness being vaccinated against. Having myself caught and passed on covid being fully jabbed, yet she didn't pass covid to anyone in our household being unjabbbed I'm not going to guilt her in to the granny killing reasons either.

toptomatoes · 03/02/2022 06:54

DS is 11 so we have to make this decision before he turns 12 in a few months. He’s had Covid twice and had zero symptoms, at the same time as single jabbed friends who did get mildly ill. I don’t want him to have to restrict his life because he hasn’t been jabbed, but that really bothers me as a reason to have it given that he’s had natural doses and been absolutely fine.

rainbowandglitter · 03/02/2022 06:54

My ds recently turned 12. I let him decide and he decided to have it

Lolamento · 03/02/2022 06:56

@Wellbythebloodyhell

Most parents I know are vaccinating their children on the basis that they can go on holiday. I'm shocked at the amount of parents who would vaccinate against a virus their dc are not at risk from just to go on holiday 😳
But this is surely because of the coercion imposed by some countries. It is a disgrace.
liveforsummer · 03/02/2022 07:00

@Wellbythebloodyhell

Most parents I know are vaccinating their children on the basis that they can go on holiday. I'm shocked at the amount of parents who would vaccinate against a virus their dc are not at risk from just to go on holiday 😳
It was a consideration for us initially as dc were born abroad and have close family and friends there that we haven't seen for a significant tune now due to covid. It's become apparent now that they are always a step ahead of us anyway - double vaccines for teens when ours were only allowed one, requirement for 6+ to be vaccinated when we are only vaccinating the vulnerable. No doing soon that will be 2 vaccines for that group. Now they are insisting 2-5 must test twice weekly fir school/nursery so likely to be next on the vaccine schedule too. Being vaccinated to UK standards isn't going to help our holidays so was forgotten as a consideration
liveforsummer · 03/02/2022 07:03

It's not just about "a holiday" though. It's reduction in severity of illness (though hopefully as with the more recent variants, severity of illness is reducing anyway), reduction in transmission, being able to fully participate in normal life

The way it's sweeping through our fully vaccinated staff team, I'm afraid I don't buy the reducing transmission bit at all. And just as well all our other vaccines such a polio etc aren't as ineffective as this one 😆

autumnboys · 03/02/2022 07:04

My 12 yo is double vaccinated. We talked about it and he was happy to have it. Sore arm both times, fine apart from that. My 16yo is double vaccinated, my 18yo is double vaxxed and boosted.

CovoidOfAllHumanity · 03/02/2022 07:05

I'm not sure if I am 'this poster' but my position is literally the same as the JCVI so I am in no way anti vaccine. For adults I am very much in favour. The older and iller you are the more it makes sense to get it.

I had both Mumps and rubella as a child in the pre vaccine era and I had Covid (delta pre vaccines) too. Covid was unpleasant but much less unpleasant than I recall either mumps or rubella being. Also most pregnancies are unplanned so it makes a lot of sense to get a rubella vaccine to protect against future complications. I had my rubella vaccine pre MMR as a teen for just that reason. Those usual childhood vaccines are properly effective and actually stop you getting the illness and don't need redoing every few months unlike Covid vaccines which are more like a flu jab in terms of effectiveness

Mumski45 · 03/02/2022 07:38

There is a 13 year old in my wider family with Long covid who caught it before she was able to have the jab. Please encourage/allow your DC to have the jab as any likely side effects are much less dangerous than Covid itself. Long covid is devastating for a teenager- she is struggling to access any education or treatment.

Lolamento · 03/02/2022 07:57

@HelenaJustina

My 12 and 14yr olds are both double jabbed. 14yr old was delighted to get it, they are v anxious about catching COViD. 12yr old subsequently had asymptomatic COVID so was definitely protected from the worst of the virus. Neither of them have caught it from a younger sibling who has had the infection in January, which has meant their schooling is less disrupted.

They both also had flu jab and the older one will have their HPV later this Spring.

This narrative keeps coming up. My children also had symptomless Covid and are not vaccinated.
liveforsummer · 03/02/2022 08:02

My 12 and 14yr olds are both double jabbed. 14yr old was delighted to get it, they are v anxious about catching COViD. 12yr old subsequently had asymptomatic COVID so was definitely protected from the worst of the virus.

Both my unvaccinated dc plus majority of their classmates had asymptomatic covid picked up on a lft. People had been testing before meeting relatives etc. Also or sore what difference ot mace that your 12 year old caught it and had disrupted schooling from your other dc or from their classmates? Why was one better than the other?

CovoidOfAllHumanity · 03/02/2022 08:31

Yep my unvaccinated 10yr old had it over Christmas, was asymptomatic and did not pass it on to the rest of us. I think the vast majority of children are asymptomatic or have less symptoms than a cold. I do find it hard to see why they need to be protected from that. The harm for them is the isolation and threat of school closures due to staff absence. Does vaccination for kids reduce that risk? Well it doesn't seem to be doing so currently.

pikapikapukachu · 03/02/2022 08:51

@CovoidOfAllHumanity

Yep my unvaccinated 10yr old had it over Christmas, was asymptomatic and did not pass it on to the rest of us. I think the vast majority of children are asymptomatic or have less symptoms than a cold. I do find it hard to see why they need to be protected from that. The harm for them is the isolation and threat of school closures due to staff absence. Does vaccination for kids reduce that risk? Well it doesn't seem to be doing so currently.
Being vaccinated has been shown to reduce the risk of both getting COVID and of transmitting it. So I'm not sure why vaccinating kids wouldn't help reduce the spread?
PAFMO · 03/02/2022 09:42

@CovoidOfAllHumanity

Yep my unvaccinated 10yr old had it over Christmas, was asymptomatic and did not pass it on to the rest of us. I think the vast majority of children are asymptomatic or have less symptoms than a cold. I do find it hard to see why they need to be protected from that. The harm for them is the isolation and threat of school closures due to staff absence. Does vaccination for kids reduce that risk? Well it doesn't seem to be doing so currently.
Do you think there may be a connection between you not catching Covid from your child and you being vaccinated yourself?
StrangeAddiction · 03/02/2022 10:14

I'm reluctant to get Ds2 jabbed. I'm worried about the risk of myocardia in young boys. I AM NOT ANTI VAX!

Dh and I are fully vaxxed, ds1 is an adult and has had 2 jabs but again I'm a bit worried about the myocardia and seeing all these young healthy footballers keeling over worries me. Dd has had one jab not sure she'll have the other.

Dd, ds2 and I all had covid in July and were pretty much ok.

Sloughsabigplace · 03/02/2022 11:25

@Wellbythebloodyhell

Most parents I know are vaccinating their children on the basis that they can go on holiday. I'm shocked at the amount of parents who would vaccinate against a virus their dc are not at risk from just to go on holiday 😳
Me too.

And if I hear the line “but foreign travel is sooooooo important for children” (on her and IRL) trotted out one more time, i’ll scream.

I couldn’t afford to leave the country until I was 28, I’m unscathed by that.

Blubells · 03/02/2022 12:20

Funny to hear people saying that their kids have had omicron recently and that they were glad they were vaccinated as they had mild symptoms...

I agree.

Our teens both had Omicron recently without being vaccinated. They had a stuffy nose and headache for 2-3 days.

I personally don't believe that healthy youngsters need the vaccine. Their immune system should be able to fight Covid off and provide them with immunity.

Blubells · 03/02/2022 12:26

My ds recently turned 12. I let him decide and he decided to have it

I'm surprised how parents give their young teens so much responsibility about an important medical decision!

Sunshinedreaming2022 · 03/02/2022 12:27

Ds is 12 and I have consented to his school giving him the jab. I would really like him to have it however he refused on the day. There’s another chance this month, I am really encouraging but I can’t force it

SmithofSilver · 03/02/2022 12:30

My eldest who is 14 was vaccinated in the summer as soon as he could(not in the UK) and my just turned 12 year old(she turned 12 just as the vaccination rollout for under 12s was started here) is having her second next week. Neither have had any side effects except a sore arm. For us it is important if only to try and help keep their schooling on track. We are very fortunate that they have had zero disruption to their schooling since last Spring when schools reopened and we want to do our part to help keep it that way. None of us have had Covid yet.

Awakened22 · 03/02/2022 12:35

I’d imagine as we head towards the summer, more countries will relax the travel requirements as they are so dependent on tourism for their economies. And even if they don’t, there’s a lot of countries unvaccinated adults and children can go to.

I’m not sure the vaccine based on the Wuhan strain gives much benefit to children - yes it helps serious illness in elderly and vulnerable but doesn’t do much to prevent infection. Given an omicron specific vaccine is being developed, I’d be waiting for that one. I think Pfizer have suggested it might be available March time…