German Health Minister
“Therefore Children and teenagers ... can decide to get vaccinated after a medical consultation and thus protect themselves and others,” he added.
The government's push to get
So far, however, the country’s standing committee on vaccination, the Stiko, has been reluctant to give the go-ahead for all youngsters and only explicitly recommended the vaccination for the age group between 12 and 16 if they suffer from certain chronic illnesses. The committee says that not enough study results are yet available on possible long-term effects of the vaccine on the younger ones, but has also said it may update its recommendation as more data becomes available.
But as schools across the country are starting to open again after the summer vacations, and given the vulnerability of young unvaccinated people to the quickly spreading Delta variant, pressure has been mounting to get more children aged 12 and older vaccinated. Politicians have been lobbying to get the younger ones immunized against COVID-19 quickly to prevent renewed school closures in the fall.
Therefore, the 16 state top health officials on Monday decided that also healthy children and teenagers should now be able get the jab at vaccination centers or their pediatricians' practices. As for all age groups, the vaccinations remain voluntary.
So far, 20% of those between 12 and 17 have received at least one shot in
The country's family minister said the decision “is an important step so that children and teenagers can be protected from a coronavirus infection in the best possible way.”
“Many parents have been insecure about whether they should vaccinate their children because so far there was no clear recommendation,”
There are large disparities in the access to vaccination for youths across
Also Monday, state health ministers decided to start offering booster shots for especially vulnerable groups in September. They said all people who got vaccinated with the
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