Published September 30, 2022 at 10:02 a.m.
Domestic. After October 31, the Public Health Authority will no longer recommend that children aged 12–17 be vaccinated against covid-19. The reason is “the very low risk of serious illness and death from covid-19 in children and young people”, writes the authority.
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During the pandemic, few children and young people have become seriously ill from covid-19.
According to FHM, current knowledge and epidemiology shows that the virus variants cause increasingly mild symptoms for fundamentally healthy children and young people, and that the immunity in the group is very high.
– Overall, we see that the need for care as a result of covid-19 has been low among children and young people during the pandemic, and has also decreased since the omicron virus variant began to spread. At this stage of the pandemic, we do not see a continued need for vaccination in this group. Therefore, we are removing the recommendation on general vaccination against covid-19 for ages 12 to 17, says Sören Andersson, head of unit at FHM, in a press release.
The decision means that from 1 November 2022 only children in special groups with increased sensitivity to covid-19 are recommended and thus offered vaccination against covid-19. It is about individuals within groups that are judged to be more sensitive to respiratory infections in general, or have a significantly reduced immune system. These groups are defined by the Swedish Association of Pediatricians.
For fundamentally healthy children and young people, according to the Public Health Agency and representatives from the pediatric profession and the Swedish Association of Pediatricians, in this phase of the pandemic, the coronavirus can be considered a common respiratory virus.
< p>The general recommendation on vaccination against covid-19 is only removed for fundamentally healthy children in the 12-17 year age group. For those who have turned 18, the recommendation for adults applies, that one should take three doses to have “basic protection” against covid-19.
The Public Health Authority's decision has been made after dialogue with representatives of relevant organisations, including The Swedish Association of Pediatricians and National Program Area (NPO) Child and Adolescent Health.