Why we should vaccinate children – Wel.nl

In the US, children as young as 12 years old can receive a corona vaccine. In the Netherlands, this is still very reluctant to respond, while there are plenty of reasons to give children an injection.

Children may become less ill from the coronavirus, but they can keep the pandemic going by spreading the virus among themselves. Nor is it the case that no child gets very sick. They also have a chance of long-term complaints, such as fatigue.

The immune response of children is very strong. “Children produce such sky-high amounts of antibodies, that it is even the question whether they are enough with half a dose or one shot”, says epidemiologist and pediatrician Patricia Bruijning (UMC Utrecht) in the Volkskrant.

She would vaccinate her children herself. “Because the virus is still widely circulating, even among teenagers. But I’m not the average Dutch person.” She understands that the time is not right now. It would not be an issue until the autumn at the earliest, when more research has been done.

Still, she warns that a vaccine for children may be necessary. “What you see more often with such a new vaccination program is a phase where the virus seems almost gone because you dealt it with a severe blow. ”But it can still come back later, possibly in mutated form.