All students should receive a vaccination offer in the summer. The Federal Minister of Education is now rushing forward and calls for whole school classes to be vaccinated.
Germany – This announcement by Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) is causing a stir: All students should have the opportunity to get vaccinated before the next school year. The Federal Minister of Education Anja Karliczek (CDU) is currently insisting on quick vaccinations for students from the age of twelve in order to guarantee permanent classroom instruction. The vaccinations could be organized in cooperation with the schools, reports RUHR24. *
| Federal Ministry of Education and Research | Supreme federal authority of the Federal Republic of Germany |
| founding | October 20, 1955 |
| Headquarters | Bonn / North Rhine-Westphalia |
Corona vaccinations: Federal Minister of Education calls for vaccination plan for schoolchildren
The Federal Minister of Education demands that there should be a vaccination plan for schoolchildren. Such a timetable is intended to enable children and young people to be offered vaccinations by the beginning of the next school year.
To the newspapers of the Funke media group , Anja Karliczek explains: “I want school operations to start relatively normally everywhere, especially after the summer holidays. It would be very helpful if as many students as possible were vaccinated. “
Vaccinate students quickly: Minister speaks out in favor of corona vaccinations in schools
The minister’s specific proposal: schools could go to vaccination classes with their pupils. Anja Karliczek expressed this idea in an interview with Bild .
In the Bild -Polittalk “The right questions” she explains that one now has to develop a vaccination campaign for schoolchildren together with the medical officers. It is “a way to organize that in school.”
Vaccinations in schools: First federal state presents vaccination plan for schoolchildren
Lower Saxony was the first federal state to submit such a vaccination plan for schoolchildren in the interests of the education minister on Tuesday (May 25), as reported by Nord24.de. Health Minister Daniela Behrens (SPD) explained that all of the 450,000 or so schoolchildren should receive an offer for immunization.
The vaccination campaign should start in July and the second vaccination should then take place at the end of the holiday period from August to the beginning of September. The vaccinations should be carried out in cooperation with the schools in the vaccination centers. “And in large areas at all schools,” said the Lower Saxony health minister.
Corona vaccinations for children: The project raises many practical questions
The topic of “Corona vaccinations for children” causes mixed feelings among parents. While some cannot wait for their little ones to finally be protected against the virus, many also have concerns. Accordingly, the minister’s proposal is not well received by everyone (more news about the coronavirus in NRW * on RUHR24).
Although children are not required to be vaccinated, as Anja Karliczek (CDU) has confirmed in several interviews, the project raises many practical questions. First of all, the organization would be an enormous additional effort in the schools, which are already heavily burdened by the constantly changing pandemic regulations.
Even more difficult is the question of whether children who have not been vaccinated would then have significant disadvantages in the future: For example, they would have to keep wearing masks or carry out corona tests – in the worst case, they might not be admitted to daycare centers or the like.
Vaccination in schools: pediatricians warn against a “compulsory vaccination through the back door”
With reference to the picture interview with the Federal Minister of Education, the paediatricians are currently warning against an indirect vaccination requirement for children and adolescents. The spokesman for the professional association of paediatricians, Axel Gerschlauer, told the Rheinische Post that they were very concerned that the education minister wanted to introduce a “vaccination through the back door” with her proposal and that the vaccinations should take place in schools.
Gerschlauer also emphasizes that he does not believe in such vaccinations at school. Instead, he advocates organizing the vaccinations through the pediatrician practices that also otherwise carry out the vaccinations for children. In particular, attendance at school should never be linked to a vaccination against the coronavirus *. “Politicians have to keep their word here,” he demands.
Pediatricians: Compulsory vaccination like measles does not make sense with Covid-19
The fact is: School and daycare children have been compulsorily vaccinated since March 2020. Since then, measles vaccination has been mandatory for attending educational institutions. However, the risk for children of getting seriously ill is much greater with measles than with Covid-19. This is exactly what the paediatricians emphasize.
In principle, they are in favor of the fastest possible approval of vaccines for children and adolescents. When asked about a vaccination recommendation, however, benefit and risk must be weighed. And this benefit for children and adolescents is “to be assessed as low compared to adults”, according to a report in the Journal Med .
Pediatricians: Discrimination against unvaccinated children is not ethically justifiable
The “3G” features (vaccinated, tested, recovered) are also not applicable to children in the opinion of paediatricians, the DGKJ announced in a press release. Instead, ask the doctor, “that children and adolescents may fully benefit from the same privileges as Vaccinated, convalescent or tested.”
The operation of schools and daycare centers is already secured by the corona measures. The link between the admission of children, for example for participation in events such as school trips, to the vaccination status is, however, not ethically justifiable, according to the corresponding statement.
Health Minister Jens #Spahn wants to push the #Corona #Inzidenz under 20 for a carefree #summer – and receives heavy criticism for his approach: “The intensive care beds are emptying …” https://t.co/UYjFCBgWgA
– RUHR24 (@ RUHR24news) May 25, 2021
Jens Spahn: All students should receive a vaccination offer by the end of August
The Federal Education Minister is meanwhile calling for the next federal and state vaccination summit (Thursday, May 27) to deal with the subject of the “vaccination plan for schoolchildren”. Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) had previously advocated vaccinating students quickly.
Instead of in schools, however, the minister is planning to vaccinate all students during the summer holidays. “One way to get regular classes after the summer vacation is to vaccinate the youngsters,” Spahn told Bild am Sonntag . And further: “The stated goal is that the federal states offer underage schoolchildren a vaccination offer by the end of August.”
Corona vaccinations for children: Only a few vaccines are possible
Whether such an ambitious plan should be adhered to is – besides the ethical one – a further question. Because: As of today (May 26th) no vaccine for children has been approved in the EU.
The approval of the Biontech / Pfizer vaccine for children is expected shortly, * but this may only be given to children aged 12 and over. The manufacturers currently do not expect the approval of a vaccine for younger children (daycare and primary school children) until autumn 2021 at the earliest. RUHR24 and Nord24 are part of the IPPEN.MEDIA editorial network.
List of rubric lists: © Wolfgang Kumm / dpa
