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

This is a very important point that many posters are overlooking. A small fraction of the world has been vaccinated and it’s likely to be that way for some time. Our efforts in Ireland alone will not be enough to prevent variants or stop it being endemic. So there is no point getting upset with parents who would make a different decision to yourself. Right now in Ireland we are using the vaccines that we are getting in via deliveries. We are not in a situation where there are thousands of vaccines sitting in warehouses because people won’t take them. People are taking them. Some people will delay but if someone else is taking that vaccine it’s not that big a problem.

We are in uncharted territory regarding using vaccines to get out of a pandemic. It’s never been done before. Theoretically it is very possible to end this pandemic using vaccines, but I don’t believe it can be done with only wealthy nations vaccinated. There is really no point getting upset with parents in Ireland that are planning on waiting. As we see from childhood vaccination program the vast, vast majority of parents are not anti-vaxxers in this country. It will be same with Covid vaccine but it might take a month or two for some to sign their child up.

My 12 year old is double vaccinated and has been for a few weeks - no underlying conditions and no side effects.

My wife works in the industry (not directly related to this vaccine) and has seen a huge amount of actual data (not facebook data) and as a fully informed pharma scientist with access to the clinical data had no reservations about getting the vaccine herself or for our daughter.

She spends her days absolutely furious with the horseshite she hears and sees across social media and the main stream media. She understands why some parents are hesitant .. but that is due to the onslaught of misinformation and irrational thinking and theorising by unqualified ‘experts’ .

Viruses will mutate as long as they are able to move freely around any demographic …. This free movement is aided by unvaccinated people and therefor the more unvaccinated vectors in the population the greater the chances the virus has to mutate … and of course the greater the chance of a mutation which is either more transmissible or more damaging to public health and even more resistant to vaccines.

The argument of ‘it doesn’t affect kids’ .. shows a total lack of understanding of the basics of managing a virus from a public health perspective.

I even had to listen to someone on Newstalk yesterday saying she had great experience of travelling around the world and using holistic medicines as a reason to not take the vaccine - its mind boggling how we can allow this nonsense to be broadcast.

There isn’t anyone forcing a vaccine on anyone … its a personal choice - however as with all personal choices there will be implications - and at the moment that is not being allowed inside to have a pint or a bit of lunch … but the implications to society at large may well be greater.

The good news is that the vast majority of Irish people follow the science and are willing to take the vaccine … so hopefully that large percentage will offset the choices the rest make.

No, this is wrong too.

The vaccines are highly effective at preventing transmission. Greater than 95% effective according to some very large studies. They absolutely prevent transmission.

Seriously, we need billboards to this effect.

They're about 80% effective at reducing infection from Delta on average (see link below). That doesn't mean 20% of people are going to get it, it means your chances of getting it are reduced by 80% so in reality the situation is better than the figure would suggest at first glance. They're 95%/97% effective at keeping you out of hospital. I haven't seen much in the way of transmission data, but it is a relatively small number of vaccinated people who bought get infected in the first place, and then generate enough virus to go on to spread it. The CDC are now advising even vaccinated people to wear a mask again, but they use the word "rare".

You're mistaking "transmission" with "infection".

The data is showing more people can become infected with Delta. But most infections are asymptomatic, and the volume of virus expelled by even a symptomatic vaccinated person is likely to be a lot less (e.g. a headcold which clears up in a day or two, versus an unvaccinated person being infectious for a week). There's very little stats on the likelihood of transmission by vaccinated people simply because it's hard to find cases.

In the long-term, we're probably all going to become "infected" with the virus. Antibodies won't hang around forever. What matters is whether your body can recognise the virus and react quick enough to kill it - this is what the vaccine gives you. Without the vaccine, your body doesn't recognise it and mounts a very disorganised and slow response.

Not sure why some posters, previously sane and reasonable, are losing it over this question and resorting to outright abuse. Some people will have different views of vaccines, up to and including being completely anti-vaxx. On that spectrum are those with concerns, fears and questions and yet they get lumped into a big pot of crackpots. We need to remember that the prize is to get as many vaccinated as possible and we are doing very well on that anyway. For those that remain some can be persuaded to sign up. What they think about it is irrelevant as long as they get a shot but they will not be persuaded by insults nor aspersions cast on their intelligence.

Maybe its time for some reverse psychology … once the vast majority get the vaccine - then Simon Donnelly to go on RTÉ and tell everyone that the vaccines are dangerous and the government policy dictates that no one should get it … then you’d see a surge of the likes of the people at the protest the weekend queuing up to get it.

Sure, but that's really just a roundabout way of saying "tell people what they want to hear so they'll make the correct choice" which is fine, the problem is that if someone is that malleable, it's very easy for them to be persuaded the other way through disinformation as well, and on the disinformation side they can target areas that people might feel to be true rather than actually true, if someone is here, on a message board, asking questions, they should be treated as a rational adult, not as someone to be tricked "to get the vaccination % higher", open minds rather than close them.

It's not nice being wrong about something and have to backtrack on a position.

It's even worse to be wrong and not know you're wrong because everyone around you is too polite to tell you.

It's not trickery. You establish their concerns, see if you can address them and maybe they will change position. People change positions when they process situations and rationalise that new position. How and why they do so often doesn't matter at all. Again you seem to be imaging a homogenous blob of distasteful people who have no interest in anything else.

What are you insinuating as "fallout" ?

As a parent of a child who has already had covid - just to add another dimension to the discussion - I will be vaccinating him at this point for pure efficiency. I am not afraid of the vaccine for his age group, and neither am I afraid of him catching covid (obviously). We will be vaccinating him so he can travel again with the ease we are now able to with our EU covid passports. While he did struggle for several months after covid, he has made a full recovery now. In my non-professional - and purely maternal capacity ;) - I am satisfied that he has no long term complications from covid. Vaccinating him feels like the belt and braces approach to prevent infection from a more dangerous variant. The nice side effect will be ease of international travel. Truly a personal decision though and the government narrative seems to be impressing this.

What's your conclusion?

New studies from CDC in the US shows that breakthrough infections in vaccinated people have the same viral load as unvaccinated people. So your statement is false.

He is a cardiologist .. not an infectious disease expert and his 'opinion' wasn't reflected by his peers and he had to resign.

doctors have specialities ... his isn't anything to do with covid

The amount of pontification from some posters here is comical :D

It's almost like you are picking and choosing data. Swabs in the nose and throats of vaccinated people are similar to unvaccinated, yet the course of illness is shorter so it stands to reason that the infectious period is going to be shorter.

Anyway I'm not sure what point you're trying to make other than nitpicking. 0.098% of vaccinated people are seeing breakthrough infections in the US, and this is still (as the CDC director repeated yesterday) a pandemic of the unvaccinated.

🙄 What, they have to use exactly that formula of words?! Jebus... What's wrong with "We recommend the vaccine for the 12-15 age group because the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks of the virus", like they announced tonight?

Parents urged to avail of Covid-19 vaccine

The Chair of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee recommended that parents of any child with an underlying medical condition should avail of a Covid-19 vaccine at the earliest opportunity.

"If you have a child with an underlying medical condition, absolutely avail of it at the earliest opportunity. If you have a child, for example, that is living in a household where there are other people at risk, absolutely avail of it at the earliest opportunity," Professor Karina Butler said.

She said that vaccination is primarily for benefit of children themselves. She told the briefing that the benefits outweigh the risks, but parents are entitled to make their own decision. Prof Butler also said that the uptake of Covid-19 vaccines in young people has really been "quite remarkable".

Warning over misinformation

The Deputy Chief Medical Officer has warned parents of misinformation on social media around vaccinating children.

Dr Ronan Glynn said it is important that parents do not assume that everything they see on social media is accurate.

He advised parents not to share anything on social media or messaging groups unless the data is verified and found from multiple, different reputable sources.