Make a vaccination offer for children and adolescents from the age of 12? The health ministers of the federal states have decided to do this, but not everyone is happy with it. Health Minister Spahn defended the decision.
The federal and state health ministers have decided to offer adolescents from the age of twelve a wide range of corona vaccinations. In doing so, they circumvented the Stiko: In Germany, it does not recommend vaccinations for children and adolescents from the age of 12 in general, but only if there is a higher risk of more severe corona courses, for example due to diseases such as diabetes. The data situation is not sufficient to rule out possible consequential damage.
The general practitioners in Germany reacted with incomprehension to the decision of the health ministers. Why a recommendation from the Standing Vaccination Commission on this question on the basis of well-founded studies could not be waited for is “a mystery”, said the federal chairman of the German Association of General Practitioners, Ulrich Weigeldt, the editorial network Germany. “The whole thing sounds a bit like an election campaign noise.”
Weigeldt: Children more likely to be affected by lockdown than by Long-Covid
Weigeldt accused the health ministers of “disregarding the competence” of Stiko and warned that the decision to offer vaccinations could lead to uncertainty. In addition, the pandemic risk is currently “more among adults who do not want to be vaccinated than among children and adolescents between the ages of twelve and 17”.
In Tuesday’s Wirtschaftswoche, Weigeldt described the idea that “we should vaccinate all young people even after a Stiko recommendation” was “just as science fiction as the idea of a vaccination rate of 90 percent”. But this is also not necessary. “What most children suffer from is certainly less long-covid than long-lockdown,” said the doctor. He therefore pleaded for a debate about compulsory vaccination for daycare and teaching staff.
Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) defended the decision of the federal and state governments against it. Spahn emphasized on Tuesday on RBB-Inforadio that the vaccination was voluntary. There is also no contradiction to the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko). “That is in line with the Stiko,” said Spahn.
“It is expressly not about applying pressure”
“Anyone who wants can get vaccinated, nobody has to. That is not a contradiction, we are in harmony with one another,” emphasized the minister. Spahn pointed out that many in the age group would already be vaccinated. “There are already over 900,000 children and adolescents from twelve to 17 years of age, around 20 percent of this age group, vaccinated at least once, at their own request,” said the minister.
With a view to criticism of a general vaccination offer for young people, as expressed by the general practitioner association, Spahn said: “It is expressly not about putting pressure on.” Vaccination for children and adolescents in particular is “also an emotional issue that is discussed in many families”. It is about giving those who want to be vaccinated the opportunity to do so.
NRW Health Minister Karl-Josef Laumann defended the Standing Vaccination Commission, which had come under pressure because of its stance on the vaccination of children and adolescents. One should accept the independence of the Stiko, he has confidence in the scientific body, said the CDU politician on Tuesday on WDR 5 in the “Morgenecho”. North Rhine-Westphalia will continue to comply with the Stiko recommendation for corona vaccination for adolescents aged 12 and over.
Saxon Vaccination Commission recommends vaccination from 12 years of age
The chairman of the Saxon Vaccination Commission (Siko), Thomas Grünewald, defended the recommendation for a corona vaccination for all children from the age of twelve. “The individual benefit for a child is significantly greater than the damage or the problems that a vaccination can cause,” said the expert from the Leipziger Volkszeitung (LVZ) on Tuesday. The basis is new data from countries such as the USA or Israel, where vaccination has been carried out for a long time from the age of 12.
“We can now recommend the vaccination with a clear conscience,” said Grünewald. The Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) is also checking the data thoroughly and will also use results from Germany and Europe. “But in Saxony we are perhaps a little more elastic than at the federal level.”
However, the vaccination should only take place “if everyone – both the person who is being vaccinated and the custodial and of course the person who is vaccinated – agrees,” emphasized Grünewald. The new recommendation will not introduce any compulsory vaccination. Saxony, which with Siko is the only federal state to have its own vaccination commission, has been recommending a corona vaccination for children and adolescents from the age of 12 since this week.
