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Vaccination of a child (symbol image)
Photo: Julian Stratenschulte / dpa
The Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) recommends the corona vaccination for children and adolescents between 12 and 17 years who suffer from certain previous illnesses.
The committee based at the Robert Koch Institute does not make a general vaccination recommendation for the age group.
The decision was expected after corresponding statements by Stiko members and a preliminary draft.
The European Commission approved the Biontech / Pfizer vaccine for children aged twelve and over at the end of May.
It is the first corona vaccine that can also be injected into people under the age of 16 in the EU.
However, the fact that a drug can be used does not automatically mean that it is also recommended.
It is the job of Stiko to weigh the pros and cons.
The recommendations of the independent panel are mainly based on scientific evidence.
As part of the debate about vaccinations for children and adolescents, Stiko members had already insisted in recent weeks that vaccinations should be based on medical and not political criteria.
Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) had pleaded weeks ago for a vaccination offer for all children and adolescents, although assessments by experts were still pending.
A federal-state round also decided on May 27th that children and their parents can apply for vaccination appointments for children from the age of twelve from this Monday and that children are equal to vaccination from then on.
The vaccination prioritization in Germany has been lifted since June 7th.
Since there is still a lack of vaccine, it can still take weeks until all interested parties receive a vaccination offer.
From Spahn's point of view, parents and doctors should decide individually whether a child should be vaccinated or not.
There is no obligation to adhere to Stiko recommendations.
First studies: vaccine well tolerated by children
The Biontech vaccine for children from the age of twelve was approved on the basis of data that, according to the European Medicines Agency Ema, demonstrate very good efficacy and good tolerability in 12 to 15 year olds.
In a study, there were no Covid-19 cases in more than 1000 vaccinated children and adolescents. In the unvaccinated control group of about the same size, there were 16. After the vaccination there were mostly only slight vaccination reactions such as tiredness or headaches, the scientists write in the New England Journal of Medicine. Apart from that, laboratory tests also showed that the vaccination produced a stable immune response. This was even better than in the group of adolescents and young adults between 16 and 25 years of age.
The data are promising, but so far limited. Compared to these remaining uncertainties, there is a lower risk of developing serious Covid-19 compared to adults. This is especially true when compared to older adults. However, the virus can also be dangerous for children. According to estimates by experts, around one in 1000 infected children develops a "Pediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome", in short: Pims, which often has to be treated in hospital. How often children develop Long Covid is still unclear.
Another argument in favor of vaccinating children is that vaccinations that are as large-scale as possible during the summer holidays make going to school safer afterwards.
If at least the older school children were to be immunized, classroom lessons could take place after the summer vacation - without having to fear that this would fuel the pandemic again.
In the USA and Canada, among others, children between the ages of 12 and 15 have been vaccinated for a few weeks.
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