Children and adolescents between the ages of twelve and sixteen should receive a vaccination offer by the end of summer. Much remains unclear, however.
Germany – Parents who had hoped for clarity on the subject of “vaccinations for children” from the vaccination summit on Thursday (May 27) were largely disappointed. Many questions about the specific implementation and the Stiko vaccination recommendation are still open, reports RUHR24 *.
| Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) | supreme federal authority |
| Authority management | Jens Spahn (CDU) |
| Headquarters | Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia |
Corona vaccinations: No special quotas for children – Prime Ministers are upset
Jens Spahn had actually announced a vaccination campaign for schoolchildren until the end of August in advance of Bild am Sonntag. To do this, he planned to provide his own vaccination doses. At the vaccination summit on Thursday (May 27th) *, this topic caused a real quarrel between the minister and the state heads, because they too had assumed a special contingent for children (information on the coronavirus in NRW * on RUHR24).
Even more: In the last resolution of the Conference of Health Ministers it was promised that the federal states that submit a concept for such a vaccination plan for children and adolescents between the ages of twelve and 18 would receive “the additional vaccination doses required for the first and second vaccinations from the federal government” .
Decision of the vaccination summit: No additional vaccine and no vaccination campaign for children
The Federal Minister of Education had also spoken out in favor of such a vaccination plan for children *. Lower Saxony was the first state to advance and presented a concept that also includes schools in the vaccinations.
Since the vaccination summit, however, it has been clear: “Additional” does not mean additional in the resolution, because no vaccine will be made available especially for children. In the conference, this clarification led Spahn to resentment among the country leaders, which was also expressed in the subsequent press conferences. Instead, the existing vaccine is now to be redistributed so that children of the corresponding age group can also be vaccinated.
Vaccinations for children possible from June 7th: The most important information at a glance
Specifically, the following was decided or clarified:
- Chancellor Angela Merkel and the ministers assume that the European Medicines Agency will approve the vaccine from Biontech / Pfizer on Friday (May 28) for children between the ages of twelve and 16 across the EU.
- If approved by the EMA, the Chancellor’s clear promise is that all children aged twelve and over will receive a vaccination offer by autumn.
- Children and adolescents can get a vaccination appointment from the end of the prioritization (from 7.6.2021).
- There will be no separate appointments for children – parents, like everyone else, have to make an effort to get a vaccination appointment (for example with the doctor).
- The federal states can develop additional concepts with which children and adolescents can be offered special vaccinations. It is therefore to be expected that the concrete implementation will differ from state to state.
- But there will be no compulsory vaccination for children – just as there is none for adults.
- Safe school operations are guaranteed regardless of whether students are vaccinated or not.
- There is no other way – at least for the younger generation – because, as Angela Merkel (CDU) explains, there will be no vaccine for younger people “in the foreseeable future”.
- Unvaccinated children should also be able to travel. Angela Merkel (CDU) makes it clear that there are ultimately the corona tests.
- Stiko will promptly submit a recommendation for the age group. It is currently considered likely that the vaccinations will only be recommended for previously ill children.
The latter is currently causing uncertainty among many parents. Because: According to a current Forsa survey on behalf of RTL, around 70 percent of all parents want their children to be vaccinated. If Stiko does not make a recommendation now, that could change.
Corona vaccinations for children – Stiko has a hard time making a recommendation
What is particularly confusing in this context is the fact that the Stiko says that there is still “an unclear risk” because the data on the side effects are still too small. Biontech / Pfizer had previously repeatedly emphasized that the study data had shown that the vaccine was “very well tolerated” for this age group – the side effects were similar to those in adults.
The fact is that leading paediatricians are currently against recommending vaccinations for children. According to many medical professionals, the benefit and risk must be weighed up further.
It was last so low in October 2020: The incidence value in #NRW has fallen below the important limit of 50, according to #RKI. This enables further loosening. #Thursdayhttps: //t.co/8Jbm8LMNuA
– RUHR24 (@ RUHR24news) May 27, 2021
Parents must not be put under pressure – pediatricians against vaccination recommendations
The main argument of Stiko and paediatricians is that the children themselves should have a health benefit from the vaccinations – and this should not happen due to social pressure.
The German Medical Association (BÄK) also agrees with the Stiko, as the Ärzteblatt reports. Its chairman, Klaus Reinhardt, also warned that no political pressure should be put on parents to vaccinate children. First it must be clear how great the risk from Covid-19 * really is for children. Further scientific knowledge would also have to be collected. Virologist Hendrik Streeck also urges caution on this question, as reported by fuldaerzeitung.de * .
Corona: The German Ethics Council advocates vaccinations for children
The chairwoman of the German Ethics Council Alena Buyx, on the other hand, is in favor of vaccinating children. Children also became seriously ill. There are also cases of Long Covid in children.
You would therefore also have a right to a vaccination. She cites group protection as a further argument: children would be better protected by vaccinations in schools.
Have children vaccinated against corona or not? Stiko’s attitude unsettled
The statements by virologist Christian Drosten and RKI boss Lothar Wieler also raise questions in this context. Both had recently emphasized that the virus does not go away, and anyone who is not vaccinated is inevitably infected – this also applies to unvaccinated children. Accordingly, many parents ask themselves whether their children will be infected without a vaccination.
Even the Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, Stephan Weil (SPD), was visibly irritated by Stiko’s attitude after the vaccination summit: “The fact that the Standing Vaccination Commission is now suddenly questioning the sense of nationwide vaccination of schoolchildren irritates me and many others People ”, said the Prime Minister.
Berlin’s governing mayor criticizes: Spahn has “promised too much”
And further: “A few weeks ago it was said that schools were breeding grounds for the pandemic.” In fact, the incidences among children are many times higher than in other age groups, as Berlin’s governing mayor Michael Müller (SPD) also noted for his city. Müller justifies the fact that there will be no vaccination campaign for younger people with the fact that they were “not seriously ill”.
However, he too is annoyed by the confusion about the additional child vaccinations. In Maybrit Illner’s ZDF broadcast, the governing mayor criticized “that the Federal Ministry of Health has promised too much.”
The Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister Malu Dreyer also remarked at a press conference: “If we don’t get an additional vaccine, we need a new assessment of the situation.” So it remains to be seen which further rules for child vaccinations the individual federal states will establish. * RUHR24 and fuldaerzeitung.de are offered by the IPPEN.MEDIA editorial network.
Header list image: © Annegret Hilse
