Politicians are heavily debating whether schoolchildren should soon receive a corona vaccination. Stiko is currently still weighing the risks for children and adolescents.
“The state government must ensure that all students in the state can be offered a Covid 19 vaccination in good time before the start of the new school year,” said the SPD parliamentary group leader Andreas Stoch in Baden-Württemberg. “The vaccine has to go to the place where children and young people will soon be bustling again: to schools!” Stoch is of the opinion that children in Baden-Württemberg should be given a corona vaccination quickly and easily if they and their parents want it. According to Stoch, the country must now take precautions to enable schools to be vaccinated as soon as possible. Mobile vaccination teams at schools would also offer a corona vaccination to children and adolescents whose parents cannot make the vaccination appointments.
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None of the corona vaccines used in Germany have yet been approved for children – despite this, child vaccinations are already being discussed. What speaks for it and what against it?
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Lucha for vaccinations in vaccination centers
The country is currently working on how school children should be vaccinated, said Baden-Württemberg’s Minister of Social Affairs Manfred Lucha (Greens) the SWR. Lucha rejects the SPD’s proposal to vaccinate schoolchildren against the coronavirus directly in schools. Instead, they should be vaccinated in vaccination centers, according to the Green politician. There should then be extra special contingents for schoolchildren. According to the information, there is already an exchange with the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Culture and the federal government. How exactly this could then work will be announced shortly.
According to its chairman Michael Mittelstaedt, the State Parents’ Advisory Council (LEB) is generally positive about the use of mobile vaccination teams. However, there should be no peer pressure in the classes. A recommendation from Stiko for corona vaccinations for children and adolescents is, in his view, a prerequisite for this, he said.
Federal Minister of Education: Vaccinate as many students as possible
Federal Education Minister Anja Karliczek (CDU) has spoken out in favor of a vaccination plan for children from the age of twelve in all federal states. The politician told the newspapers of the Funke media group that school operations should soon be able to start relatively normally again. It would be helpful if as many students as possible were vaccinated.
But first the vaccine must be approved for children and adolescents. The EU Medicines Agency (EMA) is currently examining the approval of the corona vaccine from Biontech / Pfizer for children from the age of twelve.
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Stiko member: risk of vaccination in children unclear
But not everyone considers corona vaccinations for children and adolescents to be the solution to smooth school operations. A member of the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) expressed skepticism about possible mass vaccinations of schoolchildren. A general vaccination recommendation from the Stiko for children and adolescents between twelve and fifteen years of age considers Commissioner Rüdiger von Kries to be unlikely, as he said on Tuesday evening in the rbb program “Spezial”. The reason for this is the unclear risk of a corona vaccination in children. There should only be a vaccination recommendation for children and adolescents with certain chronic diseases.
“Stiko is an autonomous body, we do not work at the request of the ministry, we make our decisions after assessing the risks and benefits,” said von Kries. At the moment “nothing” is known about the side effects of corona vaccinations in children. “If the risk is unclear, I cannot currently predict that there will be a vaccination recommendation for a general vaccination,” said von Kries.
Attending school may not be linked to a corona vaccination
The Federal Association of Pediatricians also does not believe in corona vaccinations in schools. A spokesman for the association told the “Rheinische Post” that there was concern about mandatory vaccination through the back door. Attending school should not be linked to a corona vaccination. According to the medical association, children are not drivers of infection.
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The Biontech vaccination may be approved for children between 12 and 15 as early as the end of May, but no later than the beginning of June. The EMA approval process is ongoing.
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The debate about vaccinations for children and adolescents was triggered when Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) put corona vaccinations for schoolchildren into the room by the end of August. According to Spahn, Biontech vaccines should be reserved for this purpose. Although the Stiko has not yet made a vaccination recommendation, a corona vaccination for children and adolescents is conceivable for Spahn. Parents and their children could make an individual decision together with doctors, he said in the “Ntv” show “Frühstart”. The determination of the stiko is just a recommendation.
A decision to approve a vaccine for children and adolescents is expected by the end of May. On Thursday the federal and state governments want to jointly discuss how to proceed.
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