What you need to know about vaccinating your children against Covid – 11 key questions answered UK News

Across the country, parents are preparing their children for their first Covid vaccine to protect them from the disease.

However, the vaccination program for schoolchildren aged 12 to 15 is still on hold.

For more than a year and a half, children have seen their education disrupted because of the pandemic. And with the resurgence of cases, there are fears that the disruptions will return.

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Education officials were awaiting a decision from the Joint Committee on Immunization and Immunization (JCVI) on whether to immunize children aged 12 to 15.

Now that decision has been conveyed to the Chief Medical Officers of Health and the Secretary of Health, who could make a final decision as early as next week, reports The Mirror.

Here are the answers to key questions about childhood immunization.

Will my child be bitten this trimester?

All children aged 16 and 17 can be vaccinated against Covid without parental permission.

Some children between the ages of 12 and 15 may also be given a jab. They are eligible if they are clinically vulnerable or live with adults at increased risk of severe disease.

Since September 3, children aged 12 to 15 can also receive a vaccine if they are among the 200,000 children with other serious illnesses. These include sickle cell anemia, type 1 diabetes, and other serious heart, lung, liver and neurological conditions that put them at high risk of contracting the virus.

However, the JCVI has still not decided to offer jabs every 12-15 years.

The independent body finally ruled on Sept. 3 that the benefits for healthy 12 to 15 year olds from getting the vaccine are “slightly greater” than the low risk of harm.

But he added: “The profit margin is considered too small to support universal immunization of healthy 12 to 15 year olds at present.”

When will there be a decision on every 12 to 15 years?

A decision could be made as early as next week. The final recommendation on whether to vaccinate healthy 12-15 year olds has been forwarded to the four chief medical officers in the UK.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid has asked them to give advice “as soon as possible” and he will make a final decision for England, with decentralized governments deciding in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

It is understood that the tips should be in days or weeks.

Will jabs for all 12-year-olds get the green light?

We don’t know, but it seems more likely now that it’s in the hands of the chief medical officers.

Unlike the JCVI, they will look at the broader benefits of immunizing children, and not just the direct health benefits or risks to the children themselves.

This will include examining the extent to which children’s schooling would be disrupted if they did not get the vaccine – and the risk to the adults around them, who are more likely to fall seriously ill from Covid. .

What are the advantages of doing this?

Until recently, epidemics were caused by people in their twenties and thirties. This week, Public Health England said rates were now highest among people aged 10-19, even before schools returned.

Immunizing 12 to 15 year olds will reduce epidemics in schools and disruption in student education.

Keeping children in school also protects those who are vulnerable to violence in the home.

The injections will also reduce infections in children passed on to older and vulnerable people. This would contribute to greater immunity of the population and reduce the pressure on the NHS.

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What are the potential drawbacks?

Scientists are analyzing data on an extremely rare side effect called myocarditis.

This causes inflammation of the heart muscle, reducing its ability to pump blood.

It is detected by doctors who detect an unusual heartbeat, mostly in boys within a week of the second dose.

Scientists in the United States – where millions of children have been vaccinated with Pfizer or Moderna vaccines – have detected 1,000 cases of heart inflammation.

Most of the cases were mild and about 800 of those children had recovered by July.

Why couldn’t they make a decision?

The JCVI must weigh the risk for children of myocarditis triggered by jabs against the risk of Covid-19.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calculated that for every million doses, there were 67 cases of heart inflammation in boys and nine in girls. This makes it extremely rare.

Although severe cases of Covid-19 in children are rare, they do occur.

The JCVI is awaiting data that would indicate that the danger of Covid-19 outweighs the risk of side effects from the vaccine.

Long Covid is also a concern and any lasting damage it causes is poorly understood.

There is also a dilemma over whether to immunize children to protect the elderly.

It may save more lives, but is it fair that a small number of children face health issues to protect the …