Refusal of Covid-19 vaccination

[Fuckingfuckssake]

Hi, we have today been informed that our 14 year old with profound Cerebral Palsy will not be considered for the Covid-19 vaccination despite us having shielded her since last March and being completely segregated from her siblings, has anyone else had a similar experience? Where do we go from here?

Not until a vaccine has been approved that has been tested on the under 16/18. Without an approved license it cannot be given. Trials are underway now I believe.

It's really hard for our children who are shielding, with no vaccine yet available. The advice at the moment is that children under 16 are not licensed for the vaccination, however from the update in the Green paper today, there is one category of children who may receive it:

" Given the very high risk of exposure to infection and outbreaks in institutional settings, vaccination may be considered for children with severe neuro-disabilities who tend to get recurrent respiratory tract infections and who frequently spend time in specialised residential care settings for children with complex needs."

These children would have to be over the age of 12.

This is from here: Green book chapter14a page 13/14 is the relevant section

However, in better news it now does say "Recommendations on vaccinating children with other underlying conditions will be reviewed after the initial roll-out phase by which time additional data on use of the vaccines in adults should allow a better assessment of risks and benefits" so I am very hopeful it will happen at some point.

Thank you so much for that info, the GP I spoke to today reiterated that the risk to children is low, however children like ours have mostly been shielded from the beginning so are not part of the statistics, how can they accurately predict the risk to them without exposing them? Surely if the quality for the flu vaccination then they should qualify? It's such a kick in the teeth, she was failed at birth by our local health authority resulting in her brain injuries, and now they are failing her again.

It is really sad we have to wait, but I am hoping that the approval will come through soon. Unfortunately there are lots of people under the age of 50 who qualify for the flu vaccine, who won't be getting the covid vaccine at the moment under the current vaccination priority groups, which are here: JCVI priority groups 30th December

I was hoping shielded children would be part of the first wave of vaccinations, but it's understandable that if it hasn't been tested on children that they can't risk giving to them.

My DC and I are keeping our fingers crossed that things change very soon.

They are not failing her by refusing to give a vaccine that has not yet been licensed for use in children though are they?

The issue is that it has not yet been tested on under 18s. Children and teens can have quite different biology from adults, and so until it is tested in healthy teens, it would not be safe to assume it can be given to children like your daughter.

I know it must be really frustrating, but trials have started in teens, and so hopefully soon we will have data to show it is safe, and then vulnerable children will be top of the list of under 18s to be done.

As far as I know few prescription drugs are tested on children and known problems only arise (rarely) in general use. If the astra zeneca vaccine is based on a safely used pre-existing vaccine I see no logical reason to deny it to children who have been imprisoned for a year so far.

Moderna and Pfizer are new technology so I accept the slightly higher risk difference there. The harm being done by that long term isolation far outweighs possible vaccine risk given that the number of children shielding are so few and with such a myriad complex needs that to test fully will be nigh impossible. Adults shielding have the choice to weigh up their own personal risk (many I know are becoming fed up with the stress and only the vaccine is helping them continue to stay away from other people). Parents of children cannot make that choice, if we lose heart with isolation and expose shielding children we are responsible for the worst possible outcome. To deny these children vaccines when the research can never happen effectively is not just really frustrating it is extremely damaging, mentally physically and developmentally. Some of these children are terminally ill, quality of life is everything.

They didn't test cev adults - healthy adults were used and then an educated leap was made to assume safe vaccine cover for the most at risk groups. Surely we have to accept that the same leap of faith will need made for cev children?

This is no longer a rock (shield) and a hard place (covid) situation, there is a vaccine, it works in general against the worst of the virus for most of the people who have had it so far. A year of our cev children's lives has been taken from them, they have as much right to the choice of a vaccine as any shielding adult and they ought to get it at the same time.

From the greenbook kindly linked above -
"Recommendations on vaccinating children with other underlying conditions will be reviewed after the initial roll-out phase by which time additional data on use of the vaccines in adults should allow a better assessment of risks and benefits."

That sounds like a year plus to me and completely unacceptable, this really needs looked at by the powers that be. Shielding cev children should be a priority not last on the list after everyone else.

If this really is the long-term plan then where is the financial and practical support for the parents trying to carry on without respite, support, school, etc?

"Forgotten" has become "dismissed".

I have nothing helpful to add OP, but just wanted to say that I really feel for you. CEV children have been locked away for nearly a year. Under 18’s like your DD deserve better than this. I have a similarly disabled DD (over 18) so understand how awful the situation has been for them.