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Original poster

Vaccinating children

56 replies

Poplob · 28/04/2022 10:11

It seems from reading threads on here and elsewhere that lots aren't vaccinating their primary aged children as they are concerned the vaccine hasn't finished trials yet and may have long term effects we don't know about. Are people not worried about the long term effects of covid (or repeated covid if they've already had it)? Genuine question. What made you decide the potential LT risks of the vaccine were greater than the potential LT risks of covid? I don't mean long covid but long term damage to the heart, lungs, brain etc. That's what worries me more than the vaccine. My DC 7 and 5 (who haven't had covid) are getting theirs done at the weekend but everyone I've spoken to has expressed shock about this.

OP posts:
user1471509171 · 30/04/2022 19:11

Mine are all vaccinated. I agree with you.

OakleyStreetisnotinChelsea · 30/04/2022 19:21

I'm with you. I would vaccinate my under 12 and was regularly checking whether we could book from the moment they announced it. Unfortunately the child went and got covid the week they opened booking so has to wait 12 weeks.

NrlySp · 30/04/2022 19:26

I didn’t vaccinate my 14 year old. We had Covid in January. He was totally fine. In our family of 4 he was much less I’ll that me, DH and DS 17(all vaccinated)
There may be a case for it if your child is CEV. Otherwise my opinion is that it is unnecessary. Having know of at least 5 people (1 very seriously) made unwell by the Covid vaccine they had (Moderna and Astra Zeneca) I decided it wasn’t necessary for him.

MrsAmaretto · 30/04/2022 19:28

Mine are going to get it when offered, I have colleagues off with long covid and I’m horrified by their current quality of life, the waves of illness and their unknow long term prospects.

axolotlfloof · 30/04/2022 19:31

I don't think it's necessarily concerns about side effects of the vaccine, but unnecessary medical treatment, that is putting people off.
The benefit of the vaccine for children is small (it won't necessarily stop them getting covid), and most children have had covid already and been fine.
Also how frequently are they going to need to have this vaccine with limited benefits?
The answer to a lot of this, is we don't yet know.

SliceOfCakeCupOfTea · 30/04/2022 19:31

I'm on the fence. I've been invited to vaccinate my 5yo but something in my gut says not to.
We only got the letter a couple of days ago so I have plenty of time to look into it more and speak with people.

Never thought I'd be like this. Both DH and I are triple vaxed and DS is fully vaxed against everything else.

stayathomer · 30/04/2022 19:33

Mine are vaccinated because I'd rather chance side effects than have them deal with finding out in years to come their lungs or heart was compromised (I got covid in 20 and my chest is a mess. I was 100% healthy before it). I'd advise not really talking about it with people, people who choose to not vaccinate seem to be more vocal than those who do (which fair enough they have to be as they aren't afforded the right to choose, they've had it tough)

ChanceNorman · 30/04/2022 19:33

Are people not worried about the long term effects of covid (or repeated covid if they've already had it)?

No...this wouldn't influence my decision.

I know dozens and dozens of people - children and adults - who've had Covid after being fully vaccinated. So to my mind, vaccinated children have the risk of both the vaccine and covid anyway. I'd rather they 'only' have the risk of covid.

If the vaccine protected you to a reasonable level from infection, I'd consider it - but in my experience it doesn't so I don't see the point.

Two of my dc have had Covid once and the youngest has had it twice. They've had worse colds.

ldontWanna · 30/04/2022 19:35

In a study published by The Lancet, fewer than 1 in 20 children who tested positive had COVID-19 side effects that lasted longer than 4 weeks. By 8 weeks, most self-reported symptoms in children seemed to ease. A slightly larger study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that about 1 in 25 children reported at least one symptom that lasted longer than 12 weeks.

Your child may have a variety of side effects after a case of COVID-19. Experts at King’s College London used caretaker-reported data from 1,734 children aged 5-17 to track the most common long-term symptoms in kids. From September 2020 to February 2021, the most frequent symptoms included:

•	<a class="break-all" href="https://www.webmd.com/women/guide/why-so-tired-10-causes-fatigue" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fatigue</a> (55%)
•	<a class="break-all" href="https://www.webmd.com/lung/what-is-a-fever" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fever in children</a> aged 5-11 (43.7%)
•	<a class="break-all" href="https://www.webmd.com/migraines-headaches/migraines-headaches-basics" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Headache</a> (62.2%)
•	<a class="break-all" href="https://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/understanding-sore-throat-basics" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sore throat</a> in kids aged 12-17 (51%)

Out of the children in this study, 37 went to the hospital for care, but the data didn’t list any deaths. Experts also found that older children (aged 12-17) were more likely to have long COVID-19 symptoms than younger children (aged 5-11).

user1471509171 · 30/04/2022 22:47

A friend of mine is a pediatric consultant at a famous London children's hospital. He advised I got my children jabbed. He jabbed all his primary children. I think he is better qualified than me to judge.

FunnysInLaJardin · 30/04/2022 22:49

My DC aged 16 and 12 are vaccinated. Why not tbh!

TurnOffTheHeating · 01/05/2022 00:32

I think it's perfectly possible to be nervous about both covid and the jabs. Given that the jabs don't prevent covid, some see it as a choice between jabs and covid or just covid. Tbh, given how little we really know, no one can really say which the better choice is..

UpToMyElbowsInDiapers · 01/05/2022 00:41

I know too many young kids who have been badly unwell with COVID (including 2 hospitalized) to want to risk it with my kids. Yeah, for loads it’s like a cold, and obviously that’s what I hope for my family when we inevitably get it; but one close friend’s kid was rushed to hospital in an ambulance in respiratory distress with blue lips, and another’s had on and off fevers >40 degrees for 7 months (!!!) after having COVID, despite having no known vulnerabilities and has missed LOADS of school.

When our local hospital opened up appointments to kids aged 4.5 and up, we rushed to vaccinate our 4.5-yo DD (as did all of my doctor friends… I followed their lead). The Moderna vaccine for younger kids has just been submitted to Health Canada for approval and as soon as that comes through I’ll be signing up my 3YO and 1YO asap.

polkadotpixie · 01/05/2022 00:47

I won't vaccinate DS. He's not old enough yet anyway but we all had COVID and it was pretty much equally mild for all of us, despite the fact DH and DS are unvaccinated and I was triple vaccinated, just cold-like symptoms (& this was Delta so I'm even less concerned about Omicron)

simoncowellsdog · 01/05/2022 00:58

Are people not worried about the long term effects of covid (or repeated covid if they've already had it)?

No, is anyone worried about the effects of catching a cold (or repeated colds)?

Waxonwaxoff0 · 01/05/2022 07:01

No, I'm not worried about the long term effects of Covid. DS has had it and I wouldn't even have known, I only tested him because I had it.

Waxonwaxoff0 · 01/05/2022 07:03

I'm not concerned about any vaccine risks either by the way - I just don't want DS to have a vaccine for an illness that is known to be very mild generally for his age group. It's not my 8 year old's responsibility to get vaxxed to protect adults.

Norush4 · 01/05/2022 07:07

My DS isn't vaccinated because there's no way near as many effected kids compared to the adults. I would like to watch and see how we manage with covid for the rest of the year too.

What worries me is if a young child feels unwell the way they describe their symptoms could be a reaction but as the mother I may not realise and catch it in time!

ChateauMargaux · 01/05/2022 07:10

The case for vaccinating children was never clear. Over 12's werr recommended to help stop the spread, not because the benefits outweighed the risks for that age group. Based on the progression of the virus in terms of the serverity of symptoms of the current active strain and the apparent effectiveness of the vaccine, I cannot see how this has changed in favour of vaccinating. Up to date data would be helpful.

Sally872 · 01/05/2022 07:17

My children are vaccinated as concerned with long term effects of covid, protection for vulnerable grandparents and I've know two children extremely ill with covid at least one if them had no other health issues.

GiveMeNovocain · 01/05/2022 07:28

I got tinnitus following my booster that took months to go and I was terrified it was permanent. If they offered children a more standard vaccine I'd consider it but not a MRNA one. The risks don't outweigh the benefits in my opinion and that of the jcvi. Plus we've all been exposed to covid many times and none of us have caught it so I assume we're building natural resistance.

I'm more concerned about the impact this period has had on other childhood vaccinations. Rates are still down

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 01/05/2022 07:33

no I’m not worried about long covid- the term is very broad and covers many symptoms. The vaccine isn’t even fully guaranteed to stop you getting covid, or long covid- covid on children is so mild that the vaccine seems more to protect adults and I don’t think children should be vaccinated to protect society, they don’t owe society anything.
But this debate can go round in circles; you can say what about long covid, I can say what about your sons heart and we just don’t know.

Squeekybummum · 01/05/2022 07:50

I won't be vaccinating my children. Youngest 6 and oldest 12. Had letters for them all. We have all had covid. Kids barely had any symptoms. They were more ill with colds and bugs pre covid.

SisterConcepta · 01/05/2022 07:56

Mine are vaccinated. I know two children and a few adults with long covid -and it’s hell for them. It’s not worth taking the risk imo

ItsSnowJokes · 01/05/2022 08:06

My 5 year old is left with permanent tinnitus thanks to covid so I got her vaccinated as soon as we could. We also needed to be vaccinated for our holiday but the main thing was worsening of her tinnitus.

All those who say they have had worse colds etc....... be thankful! My daughter wasn't that ill with it either......... sadly left with permanent tinnitus though.

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