As of today, 12 to 17 year olds can get a boost: but is it safe? And how do parents give permission? Your questions answered | Coronavirus what you need to know

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Teens between the ages of 12 and 17 do not receive an invitation for their booster vaccination. The vaccination centers themselves organize specific moments when they offer the booster vaccine. (Parents of) the young people should therefore consult the website of the vaccination center in their region to find out how and when they can make an appointment. In principle, the young people are vaccinated in the center where they also received their first and second injection.

Some vaccination centers ask to make an appointment by phone or online first, while others organize free walk-in moments. For more information, it is best to consult (parents of) teenagers on the website of the vaccination center or the municipality.

Yes. Parents or guardians of 12 to 17 year olds must agree to their son or daughter’s booster vaccination. To give permission, at least one of the parents/guardians this document sign, which can be found, among other things, on the website of the Agency for Care & Health. The vaccination centers then assume that all parties (ie both parents) agree. For example, the consenting parent must confirm that it is “a jointly supported and coordinated decision”.

The 12- to 17-year-olds will be vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine. Of course, young people must first have received a basic vaccination. In Belgium, teenagers between the ages of 12 and 17 received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine for this basic vaccination. A booster vaccination can be administered from 4 months after the second basic vaccination.

The Agency for Care & Health reminds that the effectiveness of the basic vaccination against Covid-19 decreases over time, although there is still discussion about the question of how many months after that exactly. “In Flanders, we observe that the share of infections among young people between 12 and 17 years is increasing, which indicates that the protection of the basic vaccination against Covid-19 infections is also decreasing among our Flemish young people,” according to the Agency.

Earlier this week, the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) said the first data indicate that the adolescent booster boosts protection against symptomatic coronavirus infection compared to the primary vaccination course.

An Israeli study also found that maximum protection (90% protection against Covid-19 with symptoms) lasts for about 90 days after the second dose. From then on there would be a gradual decrease to 65%, about 150 to 180 days after the second dose. A booster dose can increase the protection again.

According to a recent study from the United Kingdom, the booster vaccines would not only improve our immunity against the coronavirus, but make it even better than the protection we originally received after a full vaccination.

According to the Agency for Care & Health, the current data on the safety of the booster vaccine are reassuring. Virologist Steven Van Gucht also emphasized earlier that “young people run relatively little risk of serious complications anyway”. Other countries have already started boosting the age group.

Adults have fewer or similar side effects after a booster compared to the previous two shots. That would also be the case for 12 to 17 year olds.

“The most common side effects of the corona vaccines are a painful and sometimes somewhat swollen (red) spot on the arm where the injection was made, fatigue, headache, muscle aches and fever. Sometimes there is a problem with swollen lymph nodes. The same side effects occur with the booster shot. These symptoms are usually mild to moderate and develop within a few days of vaccination,” the Agency said. “A known rare side effect of mRNA vaccines, especially in boys, is an increased risk of myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle). This condition is treatable and has a mild course.”

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is still investigating the booster shot for young people. The agency previously approved Pfizer’s vaccine for teen basic vaccination, but they have not yet given the green light for the booster dose. The Superior Health Council of Belgium (SHC) is waiting for a ruling from the EMA before issuing an opinion.

Flemish Minister of Health Wouter Beke (CD&V) previously indicated that he believes that approval should be obtained from the SHC. “Firstly, there is ‘waning’, as a result of which the protection level starts to decrease after a few months. This is just as true for young people as it is for adults. Secondly, we see that health councils have given positive advice in several other countries. And thirdly, many Member States also impose it as a condition for travelling. An alternative could be a recovery certificate, but we cannot encourage our young people to allow themselves to be infected so that they receive a recovery certificate,” said the minister.

A booster shot is still useful after young people have had corona. The Agency for Care & Health states that an infection after a vaccination also increases protection against the coronavirus, but that protection after an infection is less predictable than protection after a vaccination. This is because not everyone experiences a corona infection in the same way.