Coronavirus Vaccination of your child was left to the discretion of the families – Experts tell you what information to base the decision on

Basic greetings coronation vaccinations for children have already started briskly in some municipalities.

Corona vaccinations were also opened in Finland for basic healthy children aged 5–11 years during Christmas, when the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) informed about it. Until then, vaccination was only recommended for people aged 5 to 11 years at risk.

Municipalities are also responsible for arranging vaccinations for children. Some municipalities have opened an appointment for childhood vaccinations. Free time has passed quickly.

In Espoo, for example, a vaccination appointment opened for all people over the age of 5 on 23 December. The very next day, the city announced that due to high demand, vaccination times are still full.

Kuopio opened a vaccine appointment for everyone over the age of 5 on Monday, and in Kuopio the free time went by day.

On Wednesday also Helsinki opened a small number of coronary immunizations for primary healthy children.

The city of Turku has already vaccinated basic healthy 5–11-year-olds this week.

“All the time this week went back to the Christmas holidays, that there has been a demand,” says the chief nurse of preventive health care. Riikka Kytömaa From Turku.

Children are given a pediatric corona vaccine made by Pfizer-Biontech that contains about a third of the adult vaccine.

Yet in early december, THL outlined that a coronary vaccine would be offered only at risk 5-11 years of age, but more information is needed to vaccinate the entire age group.

The vaccine option was opened to everyone as more research data on vaccine safety became available in the United States. There, coronary vaccine has already been given to millions of children and not in the youngest age group significant adverse effects.

For example, in young men, the risk of myocarditis associated with mrna vaccines is very low in those under 12 years of age: about one in a million. Individual sufferers have recovered well.

In the United States, a coronary vaccine is recommended for children, but in Finland, THL ended up with a milder formulation.

“Municipalities can offer corona vaccinations to anyone aged 5–11,” THL says.

Parents word choice confuses. Why is the vaccine “offered” and not “recommended” to children with primary health?

“It’s not such a strong recommendation because in children, coronary heart disease is very rarely severe. Vaccinations should not only be given for safety reasons, as there are always disadvantages associated with vaccination, ”says THL’s chief physician and secretary of the National Vaccination Expert Working Group (Krar). To Hanna Nohy.

“It is now considered that the vaccine is safe enough. We wanted to be sure that the risk of myocarditis is not as high as it is in men and boys aged 16 to 29 after mrna vaccination. Of course, this is also a rare nuisance for them. ”

According to Nohynek, it is always a matter of weighing the disadvantages and benefits.

“Because severe coronary heart disease is so rare in a child, even the rare disadvantages weigh more in the pound. The older a person gets, the greater the risk he or she has of a serious illness. Then vaccines will tolerate the disadvantages even more. ”

Pediatrician, professor Terhi Tapiainen Oulu University Hospital (Oys) says that word choices have been carefully considered in meetings of a large group of experts. The wording chosen is one that all experts have been able to sign.

Tapiainen is Krar’s vice chairman and chairman of THL’s corona vaccination subgroup, which discusses vaccinations for children and young people.

“In practice, the message is that vaccinations are offered and are very likely to benefit the children themselves. But it is important to understand that the benefits of vaccination are not the same as those of a 50-year-old man. Basic starting risk level [lapsilla] is small, but there are arguments in favor of vaccination. ”

According to Tapiainen, children’s vaccinations are supported by the fact that about one in two thousand children may suffer from an inflammatory syndrome that requires hospitalization after a coronary infection. In addition, 1-2% of children may experience prolonged symptoms of coronary heart disease, which usually eventually resolve.

According to Tapiainen children should not be treated differently depending on whether or not they have been vaccinated. The coronary vaccine should not be a condition for access to hobbies, for example.

“Children must be able to live as normal a life as possible, regardless of the vaccine situation,” says Tapiainen.

Helsinki and the pediatric infectious physician of the Uusimaa Hospital District (Hus) Tea Nieminen says it has been looking forward to THL ‘s opinion on childhood vaccinations.

“I wonder how they’re going to solve this because it’s not an unequivocal thing,” he says.

“I consider this to be a sensible and successful solution. The European Office of Communicable Diseases (ECDC) also used the phrase that states ‘may provide’ vaccination to children when the term ‘should provide’ was used for adults. There is therefore no obstacle or contraindication to vaccinating children. “

According to Nieminen, THL’s design takes into account both families who are critical of children’s vaccinations and families who have been eagerly awaiting the children’s coronary vaccine.

According to Nieminen, some families have experienced great anxiety, for example because of their fragile relatives. It is feared that unvaccinated children will bring the virus home and that children’s lives may therefore be restricted as well.

“If parents feel the concern about the infection is high, now they have the opportunity to vaccinate their children. On the other hand, when a vaccine is offered and not strongly recommended, there will be no feeling that society is putting pressure on families to vaccinate their children, ”he says.

NiemINEN understands that many parents would have expected a clear recommendation or instruction as to whether or not their own child should be vaccinated. However, he welcomes the fact that the solution is now up to the families. Families make the decision based on their own situation.

Nieminen reminds that parents have weighed voluntary vaccinations so far. For example, some parents have acquired hepatitis vaccines or varicella or Rota vaccines when their children travel before they were on the vaccine program.

Hanna Nohynek reminds that even if it is a small child, the Patient Act requires that the patient be cared for in agreement with her.

“It is a good idea to formulate a vaccination decision in such a way that, although it requires the consent of the guardians, it must also include the consent of the children. Of course, it has its own special skills to assess a young child’s maturity for their own decision-making, but health professionals know how to help a family. ”