The vaccination against Corona aimed at by the federal government for schoolchildren before the start of the new school year meets with resistance from the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko).

According to a report, the commission tends not to make general vaccination recommendations for children and adolescents.

Instead, there will probably only be a recommendation for twelve to 15-year-olds with certain chronic diseases, reported the newspapers of the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND), citing "informed circles".

The reason is, among other things, an unsatisfactory data situation in order to be able to weigh up the consequences of corona disease for this age group and the possible risks of vaccination.

Stiko member: risk unclear

Commissioner Rüdiger von Kries said on Tuesday evening in the RBB that a general vaccination recommendation from Stiko for children and adolescents was unlikely.

The reason for this is the unclear risk of a corona vaccination in children.

"The Stiko is an autonomous body, we do not work at the request of the ministry, we make our decisions after assessing the risks and benefits," says von Kries. At the moment "nothing" is known about the side effects of corona vaccinations in children. "If the risk is unclear, I cannot currently predict that there will be a vaccination recommendation for a general vaccination."

The goal of herd immunity is still there, said van Kries.

But herd immunity should not be the primary target for vaccinating children.

"Child vaccinations are made so that the children can benefit from them, so that the children are spared serious illnesses," emphasized the doctor.

Herd immunity can be achieved much better if the 40 million who have not yet been vaccinated are taken care of.

They would also benefit much more from the vaccinations than the children.

You can also vaccinate without a recommendation

SPD parliamentary group vice-president Bärbel Bas told the RND-Blätter: “I assume that the Stiko will draw up a list of diseases for which it recommends vaccination for children.” Bas asked for children with these diseases to be vaccinated first.

"This must now be ensured despite the cancellation of the prioritization."

At the same time, she made it clear that vaccination is possible even without a general recommendation from Stiko: "After the prioritization has been lifted and a vaccine has been approved, parents can have their children vaccinated regardless of these risk factors."

School openings shouldn't be made dependent on whether children are vaccinated, Bas added.

"It was always about preventing the transmission to parents and especially grandparents." If all adults had received a vaccination offer after the summer vacation, then this reason for school closings would no longer apply.

Spahn had started discussion

Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn and Federal Minister of Education Anja Karliczek (both CDU) had recently campaigned for a swift vaccination of children and adolescents in order to enable them to return to regular classes.

In “Bild am Sonntag”, Spahn stated that the aim was for the federal states to offer underage schoolchildren a vaccination offer by the end of August.

However, none of the vaccines available in this country have yet been approved for under-16s. A decision by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on approval of the Biontech / Pfizer preparation for people aged twelve and over could be made by the end of May.