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Originally Posted by Stephen
So we shouldnt give kids any vaccines or any medication then? As all medications and vaccine have side effects and some people can be allergic to them.
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Not saying I totally agree with this but in general the risk to a child of catching covid has always been lower than an adult, and much lower in terms of getting an illness requiring hospital treatment or worse. However, the vaccines (which is common to all vaccines to an extent) won't prevent illness entirely, nor will they stop the virus spreading, as well as having their own side effects which can be more severe in younger age groups.
It then becomes a balance where the difference in not vaccinating and letting them get the virus and whatever happens from that has to be worked against the possible effects of having the vaccination. If it gets to the stage where the vaccine is more likely to harm than getting the disease it vaccinates against, then vaccines should still be available but with enough information to allow the patient (or their parents if it's a child) to make their own decision if they want it or not.
For a lot of things such as the MMR vaccine (which has had its own controversies) and other conditions which children are routinely vaccinated against, the vaccines have been used for years, as opposed to under five years, and the effectiveness and side effects are known, generally they have a higher chance of preventing symptoms of the disease and its spread too, which makes the benefit more obvious.
I guess there are points to vaccinating a child against a disease where the vaccine is going to neither stop them getting nor spreading the disease, and the vaccine may cause them short or longer term, maybe even permanent concerns...