Should children and adolescents also be vaccinated against Corona or not? This question has been the subject of heated debate in Germany for weeks. The Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) is now changing its previous assessment based on additional data.
The Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) has recommended corona vaccinations for young people between the ages of twelve and 17 years. The independent medical advisory committee announced on Monday in Berlin. It updated its previous recommendation from the beginning of June, according to which only young people with previous illnesses should initially be vaccinated against the coronavirus in Germany.
According to the Stiko, the recommendation was adjusted after the evaluation of further data on possible side effects, particularly from the large-scale vaccination program for adolescents in the USA. According to the committee, almost ten million young people have already been immunized there.
“This recommendation is primarily aimed at the direct protection of vaccinated children and adolescents from Covid-19 and the associated psychosocial consequences,” explained the Stiko. The vaccination should therefore be carried out unchanged after medical advice on the benefits and risks. They speak out “expressly against making vaccinations a prerequisite for social participation in children and adolescents”.
Stiko: Delta variant increases risk for children and adolescents
In addition to the new US data, “mathematical modeling” had shown that, given the now dominant delta variant, there was a “significantly higher risk” of disease in the event of a possible fourth wave of infections in autumn, the Stiko said. With “careful evaluation” of the new information, the advantages of vaccination outweigh the risk of very rare side effects according to the current state of the art.
A general vaccination recommendation for adolescents has been a controversial issue for a long time. After the Stiko did not carry out such an assessment in June, the panel was heavily criticized in some cases from politicians. However, vaccination is also allowed without a Stiko recommendation. The vaccines from Biontech / Pfizer and Moderna are fully approved in the EU for twelve to 17 year olds. Against this background, numerous young people have already been vaccinated. According to data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) on Monday, 24.3 percent of 12 to 17-year-olds have already been vaccinated against Corona at least once and 15.1 percent have been completely vaccinated. There is currently no approved vaccine for children under the age of 12.
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