Vaccinating healthy 11 year old

[Hocuspocusandfairies]

Can I please ask you all whether you'd get your healthy 11 year old vaccinated as my son has come home with a letter and I've no idea what to do.

@TheChip, good point.

grin

He isn’t due it until he’s 12.

No I wouldn't.

@Hocuspocusandfairies

Thank you to everybody for sharing your views. I've been reading through. I've got the weekend to think it through before the form needs to be back for Monday. I'm wondering if it's area dependant with the age groups that they're offering vaccines to

Don't feel rushed into making a decision. You will be able to make an appointment for your son at any time.

It's not area dependent. My daughter is year 7 and been included in the school info giving but as she isn't yet 12 she isn't actually entitled.

However she IS entitled but only because she is immunosuppressed (or if your child lives with someone immunosuppressed) but the agreement was given on Dec 21 for that group and is still filtering out. It is being managed by GPs like the group 6 adult vaccines, not schools.
I am willing to bet it's a letter that everyone at high school not yet vaccinated has been given, and that if you fill it in it will be returned as him not being eligible yet.

@BewareTheLibrarians

Oh as if your doctor said that *@Serenschintte*

Well she did. It’s fortunate she is so honest. And didn’t apply pressure to what should be an individual decision

No DS1 has just turned 10 and was offered. I said no he is very healthy generally, rarely even gets a cold and it won't stop him getting it or passing it on.

Hell yes. My nephew is 8 and healthy. He was very very ill with covid. Ended up in hospital for 3 weeks. It was the second time he'd had it. The first time he was almost asymptomatic, just a bit of a sniffle.

I'm big on vaccines and I understand why they got the vaccine produced so quickly etc and I'm without worry on that regard, however, the vaccine really messed up my periods both times and gave me temporary alopecia. Those side effects do concern me somewhat. I don't want to give it to my healthy DD when it could somehow affect her fertility in the future. I know they're saying that it was debunked about that but many many women have suffered with period related side effects from it. I won't say never but definitely not at this time.

Yes. And my 8 m-rising-9 yo. Both will get them soon as I’m clinically vulnerable (tho 8 yo has just had covid anyway, along with the rest of her school).

The doctors, who I trust more than randoms on the internet, believe it to be OK and I believe that doctors are OK and that vaccines are for the greater good and in my specific case might save me from a very bad experience

@Serenschintte A doctor would not say there was “no benefit” to children and it was only for wider society as doctors (should) know the risks of post covid complications in children, Mis-c and reduction of symptoms with the vaccine. If they don’t, they’re not a good doctor.

On the balance of odds, as things currently stand, no, as my 11yo will not be having the current covid vaccine. That’s not to say never but as he’s currently got covid and is tearing round the house as normal, it seems an unnecessary choice. I am very pro-vax but on this matter I will be following medical advice as agree with the JCVI who don’t currently recommend the vaccine for healthy under 12s.

Also, a doctor would give you a balanced view and not tell you not to bother. I know, having had conversations with ds’s gp and consultant about the risk/benefit of him being vaccinated due to ongoing post-covid complications. There’s absolutely no way they would say not to bother or it’s only for the protection of others. Maybe you misinterpreted the conversation to something you wanted to hear.

Yes I’d take it. My 13yo and 15yo have both had 2 jabs with no problems. Covid is a funny disease and you can never tell what it will do. Many people have had it twice - once mildly and once really badly - in either order. I’d take a bit of protection from this vaccine.

My just turned 12 year old is getting her vaccine next week. She had covid late last year and to be fair had no symptoms. She caught it from DH who had it and therefore we all did a PCR test. However, I was the only one not to get it and the only one who was vaccinated. The vaccine isn't perfect but I think the risks seem small and no more then any other vaccine.

It’s not my job to convince you I’m being truthful. The doctor did recommend vaccination for my son. For the reasons given. In the end we all got Covid anyway. Son was/is totally fine. Few days off school. Of course this may not be the case for everyone. Best to take a look at the statistics, risks from Covid, risks from vaccine and how much you want to travel and make a decision from there. It’s a very individual choice. And thankfully in the Uk there is that choice. In many European countries there isn’t or it’s vaccine by coercion.

Yes. The initial infection symptoms are not the issue but the silent damage which may affect a child for the rest of their life. Repeated infections could mean more damage. The vaccine lowers risk of infection and therefore transmission. I want to reduce the risk to my child, and help drop the community infection rate. Simple.

He won’t be able to get the 12+ vaccine until he’s actually 12 as it’s a different dose from the 5-11 dose. The 5-11 dose is not being given out in schools at the moment. It’s only available to certain children via their GP. My 11 will have the vaccine as soon as it’s available to him and I’d actually prefer for him to have the 5-11 dose as it’s a third of the 12+ adult dose.

@jytdtysrht

Yes I’d take it. My 13yo and 15yo have both had 2 jabs with no problems. Covid is a funny disease and you can never tell what it will do. Many people have had it twice - once mildly and once really badly - in either order. I’d take a bit of protection from this vaccine.

Yes, this seems sensible to me. DS (13) is having his 2nd jab this weekend. He has most likely had COVID twice - first time in March 2020 when DH and I were sick as dogs for weeks and DS wasn't so bad but was vv tired and hated that, 2nd time confirmed by PCR Oct 2021 (almost certainly Delta).

It's silly to keep fucking about with repeat infections of a novel virus and not do what you can to mitigate the risks. Particularly so when young men are 6 x more likely to develop myocarditis from COVID than from the vaccine, plus the virus's potential for damage to other organs.

All that said, it's a bad idea to ask on here. Reddit has a sub called CoronavirusUK. It's a younger demographic than here and not specifically geared to parents, but if you want to ask strangers on the internet that's where I'd go. They have some posters with proper knowledge of statistic and risk and their moderators don't tolerate batshit craziness like they do on here.

@Serenschintte

No I would not. I took my 14 year old son to the doctors for something else a few months ago. She stated there was no health benefit to him to be vaccinated. She said vaccination would protect others and enable us to get our freedoms back - where we live there are Covid certificates for museums, swimming etc. Neither of those are a medical reason to protect a child. Adults vaccinations should protect them. So I decided not to. We all had Covid recently, his vaccinated older brother was sicker than my son who was unvaccinated. There is only a 2.5 year age difference.

At the time you said: "Yesterday at the doctors (we are also not in the Uk) the doctor said the reasons for a teen to have the vaccine were 1. Get their freedoms back 2. To protect others. 3. That the risk to him was negligible."

Word to your wise: do a quick check before rewriting your own history.

And from a real doctor:

www.england.nhs.uk/2022/01/top-gp-urges-families-to-protect-children-with-nhs-covid-jab/

“Dr Nikki Kanani, GP and deputy lead for the NHS vaccination programme, said: “I know how much disruption COVID has caused for so many families over the past two years, affecting young people’s lives and education.”

“Getting vaccinated protects them, their family and their friends, letting them stay at school and continue socialising.”

@BewareTheLibrarians

And from a real doctor:

www.england.nhs.uk/2022/01/top-gp-urges-families-to-protect-children-with-nhs-covid-jab/

“Dr Nikki Kanani, GP and deputy lead for the NHS vaccination programme, said: “I know how much disruption COVID has caused for so many families over the past two years, affecting young people’s lives and education.”

“Getting vaccinated protects them, their family and their friends, letting them stay at school and continue socialising.”

🙄 It's easy to pick and chose what we want from 'real doctors'. There's plenty of real doctors and scientists who are also advising against jabbing your kids.

Fact is most doctors haven't done in depth research. They're GP's, they don't have time or resources or the knowledge to do their own extensive trials. So they'll advise what they've been advised without doing any research of their own.

Same as good old Karen down at the vaccination centre who tells you there will be no side effects purely because she was told there wouldn't be. 🙄

@WineGetsMeThroughIt

Do you have the same objections to pp who shared an outdated recommendation from the JCVI (some of whose members (aside from being sociology lecturers rather than medical doctors) turned out to have more than a passing bent for retweeting anti Vax stuff) yet didn't bother sharing the later CMO (chief medical (that's proper doctors) recommendation to vaccinate teenagers and younger children?

Confirmation bias and cherry picking works both ways, surely?

PS haven't quoted your post as hopefully it will be deleted for the misogynistic slur.

Yes. Got my 13 year old jabbed as soon as was able. 9 year old would get it too if allowed.

Wouldn't hesitate.

@WineGetsMeThroughIt please actually read the quote and look at her job title

For the benefit of anyone else who can’t be bothered to read the actual quote, she’s not a random gp, or “good old Karen down at the vaccination centre”, she’s the deputy lead for the NHS vaccination programme.