5 - 11 year olds to be allowed vaccine in wales

[RedToothBrush]

Adrian Masters @adrianmasters84
1/3 The health minister has confirmed that children aged between 5 and 11 year olds here in Wales will be offered covid vaccinations.

2/3 Eluned Morgan told Senedd Members: “Whilst yet to be published officially by the JCVI, I have received JCVI advice regarding the vaccination of all 5-11 year olds and I have agreed it and we are working with health boards on implementing the offer.”

3/3 There’s been a delay to the official announcement, reportedly because of disagreements between the UK Government and the JCVI. Although it’s thought to have made its decision more than a week ago, the recommendation is not expected to be announced until the 21st February.

I'm in England so I don't know which why the government will go for England on this yet, but it looks likely that all 5 to 11 year olds will be offered the vaccine on a not urgent basis.

I'm not entirely sure how i feel about this nor what i will do.

Its not an issue with travel to most places (there are places its now an issue though) and there are potential implications for travel insurance (you may not be covered for covid related healthcare if you have been offered the vaccine).

I don't know if having it purely for travel purposes in this age group is a good thing or not.

DS is 7. He has had covid.

Genuinely don't know what we will do.

There is always the prospect of a new variant and whether being vaxxed is better for children.

In terms of disruption to school, i think the horse has well and truly bolted on that one.

I don't think im alone in thinking like this and will struggle to know what to do.

Artemis you should have heard something by now. My 11 year old was invited a couple of weeks ago and was jabbed at the end of last week.

And yes it has been a shambles. Announced before they had the ability to do it and as with the 12-15s it left parents totally in the dark for weeks after the announcement.

I think you would be mad to vaccinate a healthy 5 year old.

There just isn't any requirement for it, their risk of death is rounded down to zero. Obviously there is a different risk assessment for CEV children.

The health authorities are gradually admitting that natural immunity is far superior to vaccination (although anyone could see that if they bothered to look right from the start, never mind the vaccinations seem to only offer protection for a few months) and so this is particularly true if your child has already had Covid. For what reason on earth would you add this vaccine into the mix if your child has had Covid, given, even if you are pro-vaccine, you have to admit it is not totally clear cut as to the possible side effects, and given all the conversation around risk, why would you take it?

Disclaimer: my son did get myocarditis from the vaccine.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-60402499
Covid in Scotland: Five to 11-year-olds to be offered vaccine

Just announced.

@BewareTheLibrarians @JassyRadlett @leafyygreens you're all stars. Thank you so much for countering the misinformation troll.

natural immunity is far superior to vaccination

There is no robust basis for this statement @hamstersarse - you've been linked to many sources before.

Choose not to get your children vaccinated if you don't want to, but no need to try and discourage others based on misinformation.

Personally, looking at the body of available evidence, I would be pro. Others may come to a different decision, but again I'm not sure why they want to remove that choice from others.

@PastMyBestBeforeDate

Artemis you should have heard something by now. My 11 year old was invited a couple of weeks ago and was jabbed at the end of last week.

Thanks. I spoke with his consultant last week and he said that the local vaccine hub had not even yet liaised with GPs to get a list of vulnerable children- and it was to be accessed via the vaccine hub not GPs. So we certainly should have heard something but they still have not got their act together where we are sadly.

[you can probably hear my muttered curses from here ! ]

@RedToothBrush

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-60402499 Covid in Scotland: Five to 11-year-olds to be offered vaccine

Just announced.

Just popped up.om my phone too assume England won't be far behind

I hear those curses Artemis. That is poor.

I think it is great that it will be available to those who want to take it. I just hope it doesn't become forced on people if they wish to have any freedoms. I'm not sure how I feel about it, I'm triple jabbed and DC have had all vax including flu every year but I'm struggling to weigh up the risks vs benefits on this one. DD had covid 2 weeks ago and was mildly poorly for 1 day. I know other variants could come along and we don't know what they will be like. But I don't think I will be at the front of the queue when it becomes available in England.

I'm in England and it vaccinating my 8yo. DH and I had it and she never caught it. Then she had it when it went round school and was fine. I'm too worried about the effects on her periods in the future not to mention she is not a Guinea pig.

@teaandtoastwithmarmite

I'm in England and it vaccinating my 8yo. DH and I had it and she never caught it. Then she had it when it went round school and was fine. I'm too worried about the effects on her periods in the future not to mention she is not a Guinea pig.

I'm not vaccinating my 8 yo that should say

Why do people keep banging on about natural immunity being better than vaccine-induced immunity? It’s such utter bollocks if you know anything about how the immune system works. ok maybe if you’re one of the very rare people with an outlier immune system (and probably many allergies) that means that you can reliably fight off a virus like covid 19 without developing an infection and are inherently naturally immune - though you’d likely have other immune system related issues as a result of your over efficient immune system, so is that really better?

But if they mean immunity from having recently had covid is better than immunity from the vaccine? How is that even possible given the immune system response is provoked by the same antigen in either case, the viral spike protein. Ok anyone having covid recently might have slightly better shaped antibodies to omicron as a result but what difference will that make next winter when it’s a new strain anyway? Subsequent years vaccines where they model and forecast the dominant strains like they do currently for flu are going to be the best bet for a robust immune response next winter, surely.

Anyway, if your 11year old has recently had covid, how long should they wait before getting the vaccine?

@teaandtoastwithmarmite

I'm in England and it vaccinating my 8yo. DH and I had it and she never caught it. Then she had it when it went round school and was fine. I'm too worried about the effects on her periods in the future not to mention she is not a Guinea pig.

It is worth bearing in mind that no one is asking your daughter to be a guinea pig (guessing you mean a trial participant ) - it has already been tested in this age group, and has been given to billions of people.

In your risk assessment, it is worth remebering that 1) coronavirus infection also can have a (temporary) effect on the menstrual cycle by the same mechanism, so I wouldn't make that your deciding argument, and 2) there is absolutely no evidence nor plausible mechanism for it effecting future menstruation in prepubescent girls.

Absolutely! I've got one child old enough to be jabbed (who will be double jabbed within the week) and one under 12, who is the only one in the family not vaccinated. He's also just had covid. I don't know what people mean by 'mild'. He didn't need to go to hospital, but he was quite poorly for 3/4 days. He slept a lot, barely ate, had a temp, felt very unwell, and basically stayed in bed while I tried to get calpol and fluids into him. It wasn't life threatening, and he seems to have recovered fully now, but I wouldn't say it was mild.

I'll be taking any opportunity to protect my family with vaccines.

@leafyygreens

natural immunity is far superior to vaccination

There is no robust basis for this statement @hamstersarse - you've been linked to many sources before.

Choose not to get your children vaccinated if you don't want to, but no need to try and discourage others based on misinformation.

Personally, looking at the body of available evidence, I would be pro. Others may come to a different decision, but again I'm not sure why they want to remove that choice from others.

As I stated, they are only now admitting that natural immunity is better than the vaccines (which to be fair, wouldn't be difficult given how long they actually last)

www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7104e1.htm

www.medscape.com/viewarticle/968553

www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/prior-covid-infection-more-protective-than-vaccination-during-delta-surge-us-2022-01-19/

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935122002389?via%3Dihub

Haven't you clocked on yet? The Science has changed

There is no misinformation.

And I am sure you very well know that I am pro choice, but also pro informed consent, which I do not believe that people have right now
and if you think discussing the risk/benefit ratio is 'misinformation', then you are deliberately obtuse and blinkered

2) there is absolutely no evidence nor plausible mechanism for it effecting future menstruation in prepubescent girls.

And there is no evidence it does not, hence why people talk about "no long-term safety data"

The timeing is unfortunate imo. The last few weeks we've been bombarded with stories about how the pandemic is over, the infection is 'mild' and insignificant to the extent that even basic prevention measures are unnecessary. Simultaneously they recommend the group least vulnerable in this scenario to be vaccinated with something that many don't trust or see the need for. Presumably they expect the uptake to be low?

Your first link says:

'Although the epidemiology of COVID-19 might change as new variants emerge, vaccination remains the safest strategy for averting future SARS-CoV-2 infections, hospitalizations, long-term sequelae, and death. Primary vaccination, additional doses, and booster doses are recommended for all eligible persons. Additional future recommendations for vaccine doses might be warranted as the virus and immunity levels change.'

???

@hamstersarse

I don't think you understand - despite it being repeatedly explained to you.

Neither infection nor vaccination provides long last immunity. This is not chickenpox. We are likely to move to a rolling vaccine schedule, as we do for flu, for those who want it. It has been demonstrated, over and over, that vaccination after infection reduces the risk of re-infection & serious illness.

You aren't discussing the benefit/risk ratio - you're saying things that aren't true. In none of your sources does anyone recommend that vaccination is not needed after infection.

I struggle to take any of your posts seriously given that you've previously claimed thousands have died from the vaccines in the UK though. You're not coming from an unbiased viewpoint.

And I am sure you very well know that I am pro choice, but also pro informed consent

I find this deeply ironic @hamstersarse, given the amount of misinformation you post about vaccination.

You are not helping anyone make an informed choice in the slightest.

@hamstersarse

2) there is absolutely no evidence nor plausible mechanism for it effecting future menstruation in prepubescent girls.

And there is no evidence it does not, hence why people talk about "no long-term safety data"

There is not a plausible mechanism.

Vaccines do not hang around in your body. This is why there no rationale for long-term emerging side effects.

It is not possible that vaccinating a child will have have a future effect on menstruration years later.

Sweden and Germany decided against recommending vaccines for this cohort because of the low benefits for children in this group.

@Volhhg

Sweden and Germany decided against recommending vaccines for this cohort because of the low benefits for children in this group.

This is incorrect - Germany recommend vaccination for 5-11 year olds and roll out has already began last year, along with many other European countries and the US,

I've found looking at the rationale of their decision making, alongside why Sweden do not reocmmend it, very helpful in terms of reviewing the evidence.