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High school graduate: incidence of 98
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Sebastian Gollnow / picture alliance / dpa
The overall incidences in Germany are falling rapidly - but not in children and adolescents.
At their own vaccination summit, Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and the prime ministers want to advise on whether and when children and young people can be vaccinated against the corona virus this Thursday.
The first country leaders are already calling for a quick vaccination offer.
"Children and adolescents can become infected and pass the virus on, so they have to get a vaccination offer - provided that approval is available, in which the benefits and risks have been weighed," said Lower Saxony's Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD) the editorial network Germany (RND). Most recently, however, the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) signaled that it may not make a general vaccination recommendation for children for the time being. Weil can't understand: "The fact that the permanent vaccination commission is suddenly questioning the meaning of a comprehensive vaccination of schoolchildren in principle irritates me and many other people as well."
Weil asked the federal government to provide the necessary vaccination doses for vaccinating the students.
“The Federal Minister of Health has clearly aroused the expectation that all schoolchildren will be offered a vaccination as soon as the vaccine is approved for them.
I expect that the federal government will then also make the corresponding vaccine doses available in sufficient numbers, «said Weil.
100s incidence among adolescents
Children are particularly at risk at the end of the third wave. More and more schools are reopening for face-to-face teaching, while vaccinations for children have not yet been permitted. On Thursday morning, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) reported the national average with 41 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants. For children and adolescents, however, the numbers are still dangerously high: According to the RKI, the seven-day incidence of 15 to 19-year-olds is currently 98, that of 10 to 14-year-olds even 100.9 - it is that only age group with an incidence over 100.
The vaccination summit with Merkel must now clarify how the specific organization of vaccinations for young people, for example through schools or medical practices, could look like - and whether there is an additional vaccine for it. The aim is to offer vaccinations to all over-twelve-year-olds by the end of August. Before that, however, the EU Medicines Agency (EMA) will probably have to decide this Friday on a corresponding approval for the vaccine from Biontech and Pfizer, which has been approved for ages 16 and over.
The head of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV), Andreas Gassen, welcomed the reluctant signals from Stiko.
When asked whether he thought such a decision was the right one, he told the Handelsblatt: “Yes.
It would be quite understandable if the Stiko did not make a vaccination recommendation.
There are so far very few studies on the risk of infection in children. "
Müller wants to maintain the vaccination infrastructure
Berlin's governing mayor Michael Müller, on the other hand, urges children and adolescents to be vaccinated as soon as possible. “It is good that the vaccination campaign is gaining momentum. But we cannot rest on it and now we have to set the course for the next steps, ”said Müller to the dpa news agency. Good organization is important for the coming weeks when vaccination prioritization is lifted, according to the SPD politician, who is also chairman of the Conference of Prime Ministers (MPK). "And we need a realistic timetable for possible vaccination offers for children and adolescents, which takes into account the vaccine deliveries and the distribution among the countries."
"What we need above all now is a quick clarification of the open questions," said Müller. "With a view to the next few months, we mustn't make the mistake of short-sightedly developing a good infrastructure." This applies to testing as well as vaccination. “When booster vaccinations are needed, speed counts. The vaccination campaign must now be prepared for such scenarios. "
SPD leader Saskia Esken is also pushing for a quick vaccination offer for minors.
"Children and young people have now had to do without a lot for well over a year and are particularly suffering from the restrictions in the pandemic," she told the newspapers of the Funke media group.
"If it is ensured that the vaccines are sufficiently effective and that there are no serious side effects, I therefore advocate offering children over the age of twelve and all parents a vaccination offer as quickly as possible."
mrc / dpa
