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

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