Would you be happy for your children to receive covid-19 vaccine

Are smallpox and polio actually comparable to covid-19 though?

In terms of the risk to children it seems like Covid is not nearly as serious as smallpox would be.

There must be a better like for like comparison?

Yes thats exactly what I am saying. There is no way I would take the risk of harming the baby by taking the vaccine.

I have 2 friends who are currently pregnant who have been advised by their medical professionals not to take the vaccine.

I was pregnant myself during the swine flu breakout and I was advised by my GP and midwives not to get the swine flu vaccine.

I'm not sure if you misread my post, but I wrote:

...and you've given two examples where you or friends took medical advice to not take a vaccine.

So why would you follow advice not to take one vaccine and yet reject advice to take another vaccine? That sounds a lot like being against vaccination in principle, regardless of medical advice.

Right I will be clearer for you. I would not take the vaccine if I were pregnant even if advised to do so by medical professionals who regard it as safe.

I wouldnt take any vaccine during pregnancy - I would not want to risk potentialy damaging the baby in any way.

COVID is much more damaging for a baby and mother than any vaccine.

The central argument that features in many posts is that it is still too early to tell whether the vaccines have any negative effects on children. But surely the same applies to COVID itself, particularly the new Delta variant, which seems much more transmissible among children. How do you know what the long term impact of this nasty virus will be on anyone, including children?

So there are two flaws with this argument;

1. The risk of the Covid vaccine in pregnant women is unknown. It's probably very low but it's unknown. However, it IS known that Covid infection increases your chances of a preterm birth, ending up in ICU or even dying. So doing nothing is not necessarily the best protection for your baby.
2. If you choose not to get vaccinated, you are one of those people who is reliant on herd immunity to avoid infection. As noted above, having 20-25% of your population (i.e. the under 18s) excluded from vaccination greatly undermines the effectiveness of herd immunity.

There's no free lunch here. The more people who decline to be vaccinated, the more issues we'll have. If you fixate on the safety of vaccines, you're increasing the risk from Covid.

Of course I would be seen by health professionals. I would take the small risk of getting covid from them.

1. I know there are risks to the mother and baby if the mother catches covid during pregnancy but I think you are agreed that the affects of the vaccine on a developing baby are also unknown. It is a real tough decision to make for pregnant women and their partners. It is one that could have long term consequences either way.
2. Most women though would get vaccinated after their pregnancy - they are just delaying getting the vaccine.

There is no doubt its not an easy situation.

Yes, smallpox and polio are comparable. Ireland is a bit behind, the US is, once again, at the forefront: in Tennessee, the antivax based government wants to stop all vaccinations, including things like polio and smallpox, for children.

For the conspiracists, 'vaccine' is just that - no difference between polio, smallpox, mRNA, vector, protein based. Science is irrelevant.

The 'Covid vaccines may do more harm than good' narrative is a conspiracy theory, nothing else. Globally, there have been over 4 million deaths from Covid. To claim that deaths from vaccinations could be anywhere near as bad - which is factually what the conspiracists claim - is insane, completely removed from reality. And that's only considering deaths, not other harm, like long Covid in children.

Vaccinations have become completely politicised, to a degree where being 'concerned' about children is, in most cases, nothing more than a pretence for an antivax narrative by conspiracists.

And genuine, natural concern for children in parents is exploited by conspiracists, to create fear and doubt, attract attention, and give a soft start for buying into their insane nonsense.

Just to clarify I am not 'pushing' anything - I am just stating my opinion. We are all entitled to our opinions.

For the record I don’t have to make this decision, my daughter is now old enough to make it for herself.

But yes I think I would be happy for her to be vaccinated if I had to make that call on her behalf.

Vaccines have been around for many years and the vast majority of them cause very few complications. She was vaccinated with all the standard jabs from a very early age as advised by medical professionals. I didn’t overthink it then and I probably wouldn’t now.

We expose our children to far greater risks on a daily basis than an approved vaccine could ever present