Professor Tenenbaum, the Standing Vaccination Commission at the Robert Koch Institute is now advising children from 12 to 17 years to get vaccinated against Covid-19.

Politicians have been calling for this for a long time.

Why did the STIKO take so much time?

Christian Geinitz

Business correspondent in Berlin

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She doesn't at all.

The recommendation came comparatively quickly after a few months, as if in fast motion.

In normal times this takes a lot longer.

Of course, in times of the pandemic, things cannot go fast enough for the public and politicians, I understand that.

But imagine if the STIKO makes a hasty decision and something happens to the children, then they would have caught fire all the more.

I think my colleagues did everything right: as soon as scientific facts were available, they evaluated them and drew their conclusions, not too early and not too late.

Security is now there because the data is there.

Why were there any concerns about making a general vaccination recommendation?

The manufacturers have tested the vaccine on children, and the EMA has approved it.

It has been found that especially male vaccinates in childhood and adolescence occasionally developed myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle.

There is hardly ever any other among minors.

You have to take that very seriously and you can't just dismiss it like that.

The STIKO writes unequivocally that this is to be seen as a side effect of the vaccination and that most of the observed cases had to be hospitalized.

And despite these dangers, is vaccination recommended?

Yes, because they can be controlled.

The STIKO writes that with appropriate medical care, the disease was uncomplicated.

Heart problems can also occur with Covid-19, more often than after the vaccination.

It's always a matter of weighing up.

After comparing the benefits and risks, it is clear to STIKO that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risk of extremely rare side effects.

I agree with that.

From politics it is now said: We have always said that.

Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) says that the STIKO's hesitation cost a lot of valuable time.

I consider it wrong and dangerous to put the technical committee under pressure and to blacken it.

For political and emotional reasons, a scientific evidence is being undermined here that can save health and life.

After all, the STIKO was used by politicians precisely to examine independently, cleanly and thoroughly before making recommendations.

She did that.

The government cuts its own flesh when it sows doubts about the scientific basis of its decisions and shakes trust.

Is the STIKO decision justified solely on medical grounds?

Not only.

The recommendation is primarily aimed at the direct protection of vaccinated children from Covid-19.

But the experts are also concerned, as they write, with the "associated psychosocial sequelae".

This is aimed at the emotional and social pressure of the pandemic, for example having to study at home, not being able to meet friends and so on.

That puts a lot of strain on many children.

Then should they get vaccinated so that they can go to school without worries?

The STIKO expressly states that vaccination must not be a prerequisite for social participation.

So there should be no compulsory vaccination as an entrance ticket to face-to-face classes, this has also been assured by the federal government.

Incidentally, the vaccination decision remains one that children, parents and doctors should make together; there must still be individual medical information.

Does child vaccination also help adults?

Insofar as vaccinated children are potentially less contagious, of course.

But one must not make a false conclusion: that vaccinating children would significantly stop the spread of the virus or reduce hospitalization numbers.

Children hardly get Covid-19 even without a vaccination and spread the infection less than adults.

This is proven by scientific data.

They should not be made responsible for the course of the pandemic.

We adults in particular have that in our hands.

Professor Dr.

Tobias Tenenbaum (47) is the chief physician of the clinic for pediatric and adolescent medicine at the Sana Clinic in Berlin-Lichtenberg and chairman of the German Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases.