The Stiko took a long time to make a decision and was increasingly criticized for it. Now the decision has been made. The commission has updated its recommendations for children and young people. An overview of the most important questions.
After the health ministers rushed ahead at the beginning of the month, the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) is now recommending corona vaccination for all children and adolescents aged 12 and over. The commission took a long time to evaluate the data, which has recently attracted a lot of criticism. But now the time has come. According to the current state of knowledge, “the advantages of vaccination outweigh the risk of very rare vaccine side effects,” the panel announced on Monday. So far it is still a draft resolution, the official recommendation text is not yet available, changes are possible. How does it go from here? The most important questions and answers at a glance.
From what age can children be vaccinated against the coronavirus?
The new recommendation applies to all young people between the ages of 12 and 17. So far, the recommendation in Germany only applied to young people with pre-existing conditions such as obesity or chronic lung diseases. Children who live with very vulnerable people who cannot be vaccinated themselves have already received the corona vaccination. According to the Robert Koch Institute, 15.1 percent of 12 to 17-year-olds are now (as of August 16) fully vaccinated, and 24.3 percent have received at least one vaccination.
Which vaccine is vaccinated?
MRNA vaccines are used. The EU had already approved the Biontech / Pfizer vaccine at the end of May as the first vaccine for adolescents aged 12 and over. This had been the case for some time in the USA and Canada. The approval for Moderna’s mRNA vaccine followed in July.
What do you know about its effectiveness?
According to Biontech / Pfizer, the vaccine protects this age group 100 percent from symptomatic Covid disease. This was the result of a phase III study in which more than 2000 young people aged 12 and over also took part. There had been no proven corona infection among the vaccinated; 16 positive corona cases were counted among the placebo group.
According to the European Medicines Agency (Ema), the vaccine from Moderna is just as effective in 12 to 17-year-olds as it is in young adults aged 18 and over. The Ema refers to a comprehensive study with more than 3700 children and adolescents. The company itself came up with an effectiveness of 100 percent in its own study with around 2500 young people between 12 and 18 years of age.
What is the vaccination interval?
As with adults, children must receive two doses of the vaccine for complete immunization. So far, it is planned that these are vaccinated every three to six weeks.
What do we know about vaccination reactions in younger people?
Overall, the authors of a study in the “New England Journal of Medicine” rate the vaccination as well tolerated by the children, and the vaccination reactions were mostly mild to moderate. As in other age groups, the children most frequently complained of pain at the injection site (79 to 86 percent of children after the first or second dose), tiredness (60 to 66 percent) and headache (55 to 65 percent). About 20 percent developed a fever after the second vaccination.
The symptoms usually disappeared within a few days. Around half of the children (50.8 percent) took a medicine for fever and pain after the second injection. The scientists report that there were no serious adverse effects such as thrombosis or anaphylactic shock in connection with the vaccination. However, the small total number of 1131 vaccinated only allows limited conclusions to be drawn about rare side effects.
What is known about Serious Side Effects?
Cases of myocarditis occurred in the United States, among others. According to Stiko, boys and young men were particularly affected. According to Stiko, these cases should be viewed as a side effect of the vaccination, but most of them were uncomplicated.
In relation to recent studies, the Stiko also points out that heart diseases could also occur with Covid-19 diseases. There are no further signals for serious side effects after vaccination with an mRNA vaccine in children and adolescents.
What role does the delta variant play in the decision?
Due to the delta variant of the virus, children and adolescents should have a fourth wave, an increased risk of becoming infected, according to model calculations. That’s already a problem in the US. There are currently more children with Covid-19 in hospitals than ever before. “Our pediatricians, the nurses, the staff are exhausted, and the children are suffering. And it is absolutely devastating … our children are very badly affected. We have never seen numbers like this before,” said Aileen Marty, an infectious disease expert at the International University, “CNN” last week. (More here)
In addition, it is still uncertain whether and how often Long Covid occurs in this age group. The recommendation is primarily aimed at the “direct protection of vaccinated children and adolescents from Covid-19 and the associated psychosocial sequelae”.
When is the release for children under 12 years old?
A vaccine for children under the age of 12 has not yet been approved. The vaccine company Biontech / Pfizer has been testing such a vaccine for children from six months to under 12 years since March. It is expected that a corresponding application for approval will be submitted this year. According to the prognosis, vaccination of this age group against the coronavirus could start at the beginning of 2022 at the earliest.
Why was the Stiko taking so long?
Until recently, Stiko boss Thomas Mertens had repeatedly pointed out that the data on the safety of vaccination in adolescents were insufficient. The vaccine candidates had been tested on up to 60,000 people in the previous approval studies, but only on a comparatively small number of children and adolescents. Special studies on this only started this year.
The rethinking of the Stiko is now based on new data. The corresponding communication states: “On the basis of new monitoring data, in particular from the American vaccination program with nearly ten million vaccinated children and adolescents, possible risks of vaccination for this age group can now be quantified and assessed more reliably”.
Health expert Karl Lauterbach welcomed the recommendation on Twitter. He commented that Stiko had carefully checked the data and gave a good reason for its decision. “We can be grateful to have such an independent body. Science allows change of mind.”
Source :,, dpa
