The Stiko is still hesitant to make a vaccination recommendation for under twelve year olds. According to Thomas Merten, they are waiting for the data from studies.
(Photo: imago images / IPON)
Frankfurt Stiko boss Thomas Mertens has received criticism from science and paediatricians for his statements on vaccinations for children. The chairman of the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) had said in a podcast in the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” that if he had a seven or eight year old child, he would probably not have it vaccinated at the moment, given the lack of data.
Beyond the data from the registration study, there are “no data” on the tolerability of the vaccine in the group of five to eleven year olds. The current publications showed that statements about long-term damage are hardly possible.
“We have been vaccinating for a year now. Now to stir up a fear of what may happen in years’ time and to speak of long-term consequences is absolutely absurd. Hopefully that was an unconscious slip, ”said the pediatrician Jakob Maske, spokesman for the professional association of paediatricians, to Reuters.
We are still waiting for the recommendation from Stiko. “But it is already foreseeable that the vaccine is relatively well tolerated and over two million doses have already been vaccinated in children in the USA. We have good indications that the risk is absolutely low. “
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The association had stated that it expected that, as with the twelve to 17-year-olds, a vaccination recommendation would first be made for young children with chronic diseases or special risks and that vaccination would not be generally recommended immediately.
Stiko statement in a few days
This was also indicated by Stiko boss Mertens. He expects the Stiko to be able to comment on this in around ten days. “This is not something that happens to the belly, but the recommendation serves the greatest possible safety and the greatest possible benefit for the individual child.”
The Charite immunologist Leif Erik Sander wrote on Twitter that a vaccination decision for children should of course always be carefully considered. “But everyone should be clear about the following: It is not a decision for or against the vaccination, but for a coronavirus infection with vaccination protection or an infection without vaccination protection.”
We are eagerly awaiting the Stiko’s recommendation for vaccinations for under twelve-year-olds. Many pediatricians wait for this before vaccinating their patients. Mertens said that a recommendation is currently being countered by the fact that data from the USA and Israel, where child vaccinations have already started, are not yet available. At this point in time, he could not say whether it would result in a general recommendation for the age group of children from five to eleven.
The Stiko is criticized in relation to earlier decisions in the corona pandemic, including a late recommendation for booster vaccinations. In an interview with the ARD politics magazine Panorama, Mertens now admitted that it would probably have been cheaper to start boosting earlier.
He told the FAZ that the equipment of the Stiko office was not sufficient for pandemics and was not reinforced by more staff during the pandemic.
More: Child vaccinations: Political pressure is harmful