General Discussion

OnDoutside

(19,945 posts) Tue Jul 27, 2021, 05:34 PM Jul 2021

Irish Government approves Covid vaccines for 12-15 year-olds. Now my son can get vaccinated !

On an otherwise crappy day, this news has made my year !

I hadn't expected 12-15 year olds to start until late September, but they're pulling out all the stops because of the Delta variant. For the last few weeks they's been doing over 300,000 a week, which is phenomenal.

The Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, has confirmed that the Covid-19 vaccination programme will be extended to all those aged 12 to 15. It is also understood that the Government is examining the possibility of giving a combined flu and Covid booster jab to those in nursing homes, over-80s, health care workers and those with underlying conditions from September.

SNIP

He added: "What I want to see, and what we all want to see, is this open to children very soon. "The HSE, as you would imagine, have already done some preparatory work but what we want to do in the next few days is sit down and work out a very clear timeline."

It is expected that vaccination of a quarter of a million children aged between 12 and 15 could commence as early as next week, so it can be completed before the start of the new school term.

It will require changes to the online portal to enable parental consent to be given. As adults will have to accompany under-16s to get their vaccine, it will also require some changes to the operation of vaccination centres.

SNIP

Professor Butler said she wants to reassure people that overall Covid-19 is a mild disease for that age cohort and many will never know they have had it. "There are the rare children who do get very sick from it, the unknowns around the inflammatory syndrome that can happen after it and much less known really about long Covid in children," she said. Professor Butler said the wider benefit will allow children to get back to normal in society.

Countries have been taking different approaches to vaccinating children. France, the Netherlands and Italy are vaccinating those over 12. Limited approval has been given in the UK to those who are high risk or living with an immunosuppressed adult. There is limited approval in Germany also with high risk adolescents being offered the vaccine. Canada was the first country to approve Pfizer for over 12's in May. The United States is also vaccinating that age group and is planning to roll it out to under 12's by the autumn.

Both Pfizer and Moderna are conducting trials on children as young as six-months-old.