“With the knowledge we have today, with a low risk for serious disease for kids, we don’t see any clear benefit with vaccinating them.”
Sweden has decided against recommending COVID vaccines for kids aged 5-11, their Health Agency said in a statement yesterday afternoon.
Health Agency official Britta Bjorkholm told a news conference in Stockholm that in their opinion, the benefits of vaccination for this age group do not outweigh the risks.
She added that the decision could be revisited if the research changed or if a new variant changed the pandemic.
It is also worth noting that kids in high-risk groups can already get the vaccine.
In Ireland, children aged 5-11 can now be registered for a Covid-19 vaccine, and here is what the HSE has to say about opting to vaccinate your children against Covid-19:
“Getting a COVID-19 vaccine should protect your child from getting seriously ill with COVID-19.
We particularly recommend that they get vaccinated if they:
- have a health condition that puts them at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19
- live with someone who is a higher risk of Covid-19
Getting a Covid-19 vaccine t may also protect healthy 5-to-15 year old children from:
- COVID-19 illness which can be severe in very rare cases
- multisystem inflammatory syndrome due to COVID-19
- the risk of developing ‘long COVID’ symptoms, such as fatigue, which can continue for weeks or months
- spreading COVID-19 to others
Children who are vaccinated will be less likely to miss school and other activities because of being ill with COVID-19.”
Like most other countries in Europe, Sweden is also experiencing the fourth wave of infections with the Omicron variant being so much more transmissible than previous variants.
The Scandinavian country recorded more than 40,000 new cases on Wednesday this week, one of the highest daily numbers during the pandemic, despite limited testing.
However, Bjorkholm pointed out, while the fourth wave has seen daily infection records shattered, healthcare is not under the same strain as during previous waves.
