The health ministers are meeting this morning about a booster shot for young people aged 12 to 18. Some countries require, among other things, a booster shot as a condition to be able to travel. This puts the ski holidays of many young people at risk. The European Medicines Agency has not yet approved a third dose for young people. Several countries in Europe still decide to give young people a booster shot.
Read all the news about the coronavirus in this file.
Some countries, such as Austria and Italy, require a recent vaccination for everyone from the age of 12. A negative test is also accepted. Young people under the age of 18 cannot receive a third corona jab in our country for the time being. Youth organizations that organize (ski) trips during the spring break, such as Kazou and Youth Travel, are asking the government for a solution for the many young people who see their holiday fall into the water. The health ministers in our country have been meeting about this since 8 o’clock this morning.
The Ministers of Health had already requested advice from the Superior Health Council last week. There is still “insufficient scientific evidence” to recommend a booster shot for minors, the experts of the Superior Health Council ruled.
The Superior Health Council therefore put the ball in the court of the Vaccination Task Force and the Federal Medicines Agency to analyze whether a booster shot for teenagers is useful in our country. The health ministers will make a decision based on that analysis.
Also review. Virologist Steven van Gucht: “Making booster shot available for young people”
Minister Beke is for
Flemish Minister of Health Wouter Beke (CD&V) previously announced that he wants to make the booster shot available to young people. “That way they can choose whether to take a third dose or not,” said the minister. According to Beke, the Vaccination Taskforce must make a number of considerations.
“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 can’t encourage our young people to let themselves be infected so that they get a recovery certificate,” said Beke.
What are other countries doing?
Other countries, such as France, Germany, Luxembourg and Italy, do allow a booster shot for young people. Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark and Finland are not yet administering a third corona jab to anyone under the age of 18. Finland does make an exception for people from 12 years old with a weakened immune system.
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