COVID Shots for Kids? UK and German Experts, Various Countries Say No

I was at the vet the other day and asked if my dog could get the COVID vaccine, since dogs can get COVID. Not yet, he said. He's still waiting for the human trials to finish.

Biggs, watching (too many) videos about COVID shots.

I'm just kidding. I wouldn't give this vaccine to my dog because it has unknown long-term risks but no benefit to him. So I find it bizarre that some governments are recommending COVID vaccines for healthy kids, a group with million to one odds at most of dying of COVID. The only possible reason to vaccinate them is to protect adults...who themselves can get vaccinated or reduce some of their risk factors.

But not every country is allowing kids to get COVID vaccines. In the UK, a SAGE member and a committee of vaccination experts aren't recommending it.

Prof Calum Semple, a member of the [UK] government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said: “The risk of death [from Covid in children] is one in a million. That’s not a figure and plucking from the air, that’s a quantifiable risk....”

“So, we’re talking about vaccinating children here mainly to protect public health and reduce transmission … So we’re now coming into a really interesting ethical and moral debate here about vaccinating children for the benefit of others.”

The Guardian adds that the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) would not recommend the vaccination of people under 18, and the government will "look very closely at the JCVI’s recommendation." The committee isn't alone.

Germany's vaccination committee, STIKO, is not recommending COVID vaccines for kids because "not enough is known about the potential side effects of vaccines against Covid-19 in children." Although kids as young as 12 can get the vaccine, "We will definitely not have compulsory vaccinations, not even at schools or kindergartens.”

South Korea, home to some of the world's top experts in vaccines and coronaviruses, has not authorized COVID vaccines for minors.

In the Netherlands, kids 12-18 are being vaccinated only if they are medically at risk.

Danes must be at least 16 (as well as not pregnant or breastfeeding).

If you're taking a wait-and-see approach with the experimental COVID vaccine for your kids, you're reasonable and you're in good company. These experts realize that you need data to do science--and the long-term data simply aren't there. And as Professor Semple politely puts it--"a moral debate here about vaccinating children for the benefit of others"--to put it in plainer language, vaccinated kids are being used to protect adults, possibly to their detriment. We should at least wait for the human trials finish.

Comments

Lowcarb team member said…

When it comes to kids/children, I think there will be many parents who will be cautious about this and yes surely as "experts realize that you need data to do science--and the long-term data simply aren't there", "We should at least wait for the human trials finish."

All the best Jan

June 27, 2021

What $115 Buys--Junk Food vs. Real Food

A lady recently went off about how little food $115 buys, complaining that the pile of (mostly) junk food she bought wouldn't make a week's worth of lunches and snacks for her children. Sad to say, but this looks like what I see in a lot of grocery carts. Fat pic.twitter.com/qbM23ydaOq — shellshock (@shellshockkk) March 7, 2025 Coincidentally, I paid almost exactly the same amount today on groceries that would make lots of healthy lunches. It's filling food that won't leave you hungry every few hours for snacks. If we want to make America healthy again, this is the way.

Celebrities Shilling for Big Soda

There's a push in Washington and ten states to ban soda (and other junk food) from SNAP, a program for low-income people to buy groceries. This seems like a no-brainer: the N in SNAP stands for nutrition, and soda doesn't have nutrients. It's liquid sugar, the last thing we need in a country full of diabetics. People can drink water for virtually nothing and save their SNAP money for actual food. Yet a number of posts from otherwise sensible accounts have opposed this. Reporter Nick Sorter says that a company called Influenceable has been paying influencers to post these opinions. (Click on the link for the full thread.) 🚨🧵 EXPOSED: “INFLUENCEABLE” — The company cutting Big Checks to “influencers” on behalf of Big Soda Over the past 48 hours, several large supposedly MAGA-aligned “influencers” posted almost identical talking points fed to them, convincing you MAHA was out of line for not… pic.twitter.com/PpPwH9lHGe — Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) March 22, 2025 Sorter adds...

$17/pound chips! Real food is cheaper

My latest video on YouTube: Real food is generally cheaper than junk food--the pictures prove it. I took these at Kroger and from their website in March 2025. Prices are either straight from the tags or calculated based on product weight. Music: On We Go (ClipChamp) First photo by AS Photography: https://www.pexels.com/photo/vegetables-stall-868110/

1972: Carole King, MAS*H and...Food for 2014?

I feel well enough to try Atkins induction again. The palpitations are gone, even without taking potassium. My energy level is back to normal--no more trucking on the treadmill early in the morning to burn off nervous energy or emergency meat, cheese and mineral water stops after yoga. It's back to lounging around to Chopin and Debussy in the morning and stopping at the wine bar for pleasure. I'm using the original Atkins book: Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution from 1972. While looking in the book for a way to make gelatin (which is allowed on induction, but Jello(TM) and products like it have questionable ingredients), I felt the earth move under my feet : those recipes from 42 years ago look delicious and they're mostly real food. It makes sense, though: the cooks who wrote the recipes probably didn't have had a palette used to low-fat food full of added sugar or a bag of tricks to make low-fat food edible. Anyone who writes a recipe called "Cottage Cheese and...

Not Only Cheaper, But Easier

A while back, I wrote about saving money on break time coffee and snacks. I haven't done very well putting it into practice. But a post by James Clear today got me thinking about it again: Warren Buffett uses a two-list system to prioritize things. Check it out --and follow the instructions. Using Buffett's two-list system, two of the goals I ended up with were taking care of myself and saving $400 more per month than I already am. As I said, I've been wanting to save money, and the system made me really focus on this. I came up with 11 money-saving ideas, six of which had to do with food. Buying hamburger in bulk. Ranch Foods Direct sells one-pound packages of 80% lean pastured ground beef in bundles of 20 for a lot less than Whole Foods. Sprouts only carries super-lean beef that's grass-fed, and it's more expensive, too. Not driving to Whole Foods. Whole Foods is out of my way, and saving a weekly trip saves gas. Coffee at home, tea at work. Tea is fr...

Pain, Pain, Go Away!

Search This Blog