‘It’s just a layer of safety’: UK parents mostly welcome 12-15 year olds to get Covid jabs | Children

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The UK’s four medical officials have decided that children between the ages of 12 and 15 can receive Covid vaccines. All children in this age group will be given the first vaccine immediately, to be administered by the school’s immunization programme.

Earlier, the government’s vaccine watchdog – the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization – said the evidence for healthy people aged 12 to 15 being vaccinated was of marginal benefit.

Five parents across the UK share their thoughts on the benefits of vaccinating their children amid concerns about potential health risks and baffling advice.

“It’s just that security layer.”

I think children need to be vaccinated – I have friends in other countries where children have been vaccinated. Why not just give it as an option for all children, for them and their parents to decide whether they want it or not? Many of us really want our children to be vaccinated.

I spoke at length with our 13-year-old son, and he thinks he should be vaccinated – he is young, but he is still thinking, he is following the news and what is happening. It’s just that security layer, where you think, we might be a little more protective. As a diabetic, this is another reason for me – in our extended family, we have people with diabetes who have had Covid for a long time even after 10 months.

Also, our child goes to high school and has gone through three bouts of self-isolation due to close contact with friends who tested positive. The confinement didn’t help his mental health, and he wasn’t able to make the most of his school days, because he had to stay home. The COVID-19 outbreak in high schools was a scary vacation before the summer. I would love to see children treated as human beings who deserve protection. Anindita Banerjee, 48, assistant professor at Lancaster University

‘I’m not excited about vaccinating my daughter but I will’

I don’t think vaccinations for young children are necessary but I find myself in a position to vaccinate my daughter so she can travel to see the family in France. It’s very confusing as countries seem to have different opinions about the same vaccine. Certainly the scientific studies are the same, so why don’t they come to the same consensus?

In France, from September 30 for children [age 12-17] He will need a health permit to be able to go to cinemas, museums, etc. and he will need a double appeal. If they are not, they will have to test beforehand. In my opinion, this policy is too extreme but that is what it is. My daughter is 13 and although I am not excited about her vaccination, I would like a chance for you to join in family activities at home.

If the kids are able to decide for themselves, my fear is that it will depend on what TikTok tells her. I would like to talk to my daughter, tell her how I feel and hope that she will agree with me. I think she’d want to be vaccinated so she could do things in France, but if she didn’t need to, she probably wouldn’t want to given the lack of scientific consensus across countries. Patricia Lopez, 52, freelance translator and interpreter, London

“Many parents have been affected by misinformation about the vaccine.”

I am in favor of vaccinating children – an opinion very unpopular among my fellow nursery school mates where I worked until recently. I think misinformation about things like fertility [issues] It has deteriorated badly, and they are not open to it. A lot of them don’t want that [the vaccine] By themselves – they’ve gone too far down that rabbit hole. It’s confusing to me. It must have been things they saw on Facebook and in alternative news sources, because it doesn’t come from the mainstream media.

I really struggle to understand selfishness. Vaccines work by eliminating the hosts that the virus needs to replicate. We all need to be vaccinated for this to happen, and I’m really worried that it will never go away and will be used as evidence that the vaccine is an ineffective hoax.

I hear people say things about how no one should be forced to get a vaccine, and I think, listen to what you’re saying – she didn’t say that about polio. These are the people who would be happy to vaccinate their children against other things. They have these extreme views about Covid that I don’t understand – they don’t apply them to other areas of their lives. Tamsin, 39, early years lecturer, Lancashire

“Young people are now the most vulnerable”

I welcome the vaccination of young children and I believe that all parents and young adults should have the option of being vaccinated, even if they refuse. Young people are now the most vulnerable as they have to attend a high/low risk vaccination environment every day in a crowded school, and share the same air with over 30 people in a small unventilated room.

I have two children and my 14-year-old son has asthma and was previously hospitalized for minor colds or allergies. Last year he was home schooled all year long with the support of our GP. My kids’ schools have been very supportive, but I’m still very scared of being in a high-risk environment like school.

Our 17-year-old daughter has been fully vaccinated, which is a huge relief, which means she can return to a kind of normal life, where it’s not just the physical aspect of Covid but its impact on mental health. Jane, 44, Glasgow

‘We must prioritize vaccination of adults in developing countries’

We should get the vaccines to the people who really need them by spreading them around the world. Rich countries vaccinate children, who are slightly affected by the Covid virus, while they should provide doses to poor countries. We must distribute the vaccines fairly – that would be the morally right thing to do. I’m also concerned that if we don’t, that’s probably where the new variants can appear.

We recently lost a dear friend to Covid in South Africa who was 65 and had only received one dose three weeks before he contracted the virus. He had some underlying health conditions, but maybe if he gets a second vaccination, he’ll still be here. I think the benefits of vaccinating older people around the world far outweigh the likelihood that children will get seriously ill or have prolonged Covid disease – I don’t think they are comparable.

I know there is debate about children getting old, but the UK has been able to vaccinate so many people that the risks of older people getting seriously ill, needing hospitalization or dying, are much lower. This country is mostly twice fortified. I feel that vaccinating children is not the priority when old people are dying needlessly – we are ignoring what is happening in the rest of the world. Anna, 58, retired, Twickenham

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