According to the Health Council, children who have already had a corona infection run an even smaller risk of becoming seriously ill after a new infection. This mainly concerns a smaller chance of getting the rare but serious inflammatory disease MIS-C (Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome Children). This is stated in an update of the vaccination advice for children aged 5 to 11 years.
In December, the advice did not yet distinguish between children who had and had not had corona. However, the Health Council now proposes that parents – who are now faced with the choice of whether or not to vaccinate their child – should take this difference into account.
“Because children in whom a PCR test has shown that they have Covid-19 are protected by their immune system against MIS-C. They therefore do not need to be vaccinated for this reason,” says Bart-Jan Kullberg, chairman of the Health Council.
‘Two-thirds of children are already infected’
The experts of the Health Council previously calculated that about half of the 1.2 million 5- to 11-year-olds have already had corona. With a 1 in 4000 chance of getting MIS-C as unvaccinated, 150 children would have to contract this condition if they are not vaccinated.
Due to the emergence of the highly contagious omikron variant, RIVM now thinks that two-thirds (800,000 children) of young children in the Netherlands are already infected. That is why it is expected that around 50 (unvaccinated) children have contracted or will get MIS-C in the past month.
–
