covid-19: Should all children be vaccinated? - Article Bent

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Friday, May 21, 2021

covid-19: Should all children be vaccinated?

 


Vaccines for children are given regularly and universally accepted - measles, mumps, polio, diphtheria, rotavirus, multiple strains of meningitis, whooping cough ... more on the list. All of this starts from a few weeks old.


So, what will happen to Kovid-19?


Some countries are cracking down - the United States has already vaccinated about 600,000 children between the ages of 12 and 15. It expects to receive adequate protection information to be even younger next year.


The UK is racing with adults - all of whom should have been given the first dose by the end of July - but has yet to make a decision on children.


There is a scientific question - can vaccinating children save lives? - which is complicated by the fact that the answer may differ in different countries. There is also an ethical and moral aspect that can save the lives of children if the doses prescribed for children are given to health workers and vulnerable adults in other countries.


The risk of covid in children is very low

One argument against vaccinating children is that they receive relatively little benefit from it.


"Fortunately, some of the good things about this epidemic are that children are rarely severely affected by this infection," said Professor Adam Finn, a member of the UK and the Joint Committee on Immunization and Vaccination.


Infections in children are almost always mild or asymptomatic, with severe contraindications compared to adults given priority through vaccination.


A study of seven countries published in the Lancet estimated that less than two out of every million children died of covid during the epidemic.


Even children related to treatment that may increase the risk of covid infection in adults are not being vaccinated in the UK at this time. Only those with "extremely risky and serious consequences of exposure" - including elderly children with severe disabilities in residential care - are advised to be vaccinated.


Vaccines are incredibly safe, but the risks and benefits still need to be weighed carefully.


Some countries may benefit by vaccinating children

There is another potential benefit of vaccinating children - it can save other people's lives.


This is a method that is already used for flu. British children between the ages of two and 12 are given nasal sprays every year to protect their grandparents.


One argument is that covid vaccines are doing the same thing that can help contribute to the animal's immunity - where the virus fights to spread because many people are protected.


Covid vaccines work very well to prevent the spread of the virus. The risk of catching the virus in just one dose is reduced by at least half, and even if it is still found, the chances of it passing are almost halved.


Children do not appear as coronavirus main spreaders, but older adolescents may still play a role.


Coronavirus, school and children - what are the risks?

Dr Adam Kucharsky of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said, "There is certainly evidence of the possibility of transmission in the high school age, so vaccination can have an impact on the overall transmission."


However, there is no universal answer as to whether it is successful.


The UK’s immunization program is hitting the front and there has been a larger outbreak that has left a legacy of resistance that could play a role.


More than a quarter of England and 17-year-olds have coronavirus antibodies in their blood and none of them have yet been vaccinated.


Thus the United Kingdom and similar countries had sufficient immunity to stop the spread of the virus without vaccinating children.


"It's a very different situation for countries without a high prevalence and it's very difficult not to vaccinate young people, even among adults who don't get high coverage," said Dr. Kucharsky.


Australia is a country struggling with the vaccine dilemma and places like New Zealand and Taiwan, as well as the country, do not have the immunity from being infected so well.


Is it morally acceptable?

One thing to keep in mind is who gets the vaccine if it is given to a child instead.


The World Health Organization says rich countries should suspend their vaccination plans and provide grants to other parts of the world. Professor Andrew Pollard, who ran the clinical trial of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, said giving priority to children was "morally wrong".


Professor Eleanor Riley, an immunologist at the University of Edinburgh, said: "There is a case for this and if an unlimited supply of vaccines were available we could have gone with the Over-12, but it is not.


"Ultimately it is a political decision to prioritize our children over adults who die elsewhere in the world."

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