Should I vaccinate my child against COVID-19 this winter? Here's the current advice for parents

Australia Broadcast Center

6 days ago

As winter approaches and respiratory viruses spike, changing advice on childhood vaccines and knowing when to get each one can be confusing.
This week, the US announced it will no longer recommend COVID-19 vaccines for children and healthy pregnant women, with Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr calling it a "commonsense" decision grounded in sound science.
The change follows last week's announcement by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials that they would limit approval of COVID-19 shots, a critical tool in ending the pandemic, to adults aged 65 and older, as well as younger individuals with underlying health conditions.
It comes as experts are urging people to get their COVID booster jab as a new, more infectious variant emerges in Australia.
So what do the Australian government and medical experts recommend for children?
Here's your questions answered by ATAGI advice and experts.
In Australia, the COVID-19 vaccine is not recommended for healthy infants, children, or adolescents who do not have medical conditions that increase their risk of severe illness.
However, children under 5 years who are immunocompromised are eligible for the vaccination.
Children aged 5-17 are also eligible and it is recommended for all Australians aged over 18.
The Immunisation handbook says this is because during the pandemic the risk of severe illness was extremely low in this cohort.
"The rationale for the ATAGI recommendation is looking at the risk benefit analysis of preventing severe disease because that's what the COVID vaccine benefit analysis is decided on," Dr Kristy Short, a virologist at the University of Queensland says.
"Children are unlikely to get severe COVID-19 and so the bar for having a vaccine in children is much higher than it is say in adults or the elderly who are at higher risk of severe disease."
Dr Short says the advice around paediatric vaccination can be confusing.
"It does become really complicated and I as a parent get that it is confusing advice and it's partly because the situation with children is not as black and white as it is in adults," she said.
"When we talk about the elderly we know absolutely there is a high risk of disease, their immune response is impaired.
"In children it is not as black and white."
Dr Norman Swan says it is important to follow advice from ATAGI and discuss it with your GP.
"High priority areas are pregnant women who need to have flu vaccines, RSV and really seriously consider COVID as well," he says.
"Because COVID affects pregnant women more than otherwise healthy people and it can cause miscarriage and high blood pressure in pregnancy so they need ot talk about this with their doctor."
He says risks of COVID-19 in children are low.
"The main thing with kids is there is still a chance of long COVID in children which is reduced by immunisation and that's something to talk over with your GP."
Dr Short agrees.
"ATAGI made its initial recommendations on COVID vaccinations back in 2021 and we've now become aware of long COVID and the issue of long COVID and that doesn't factor into the risk benefit analysis that ATAGI has done," she says.
"On top of that, long COVID in children is still poorly understood.
"So this is a very long winded way of saying that the change in the US guidelines for paediatric vaccinations is probably not too shocking and it is in line with Australia's evaluation."
What does concern Dr Short however, is the changing US advice to pregnant women.
"What is really shocking is that they're no longer recommending COVID vaccination for pregnant women," she says.
"This is in contrast with scientific evidence.
"We know COVID-19 has implications for the fetus and where it becomes particular concerning is those early six months of the child's life when they are relying on maternal immunity.
"There is no question in my mind that it should be available to pregnant women."
ATAGI says pregnant women who have previously been vaccinated are not routinely recommended to have a further dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
However, they can consider a further dose of COVID-19 vaccine based on presence of underlying risk conditions and/or personal preference.
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) recommends a COVID-19 vaccination for children aged 6 months to less than 5 years with severe immunocompromised, disability, complex/multiple health conditions which increase the risk of severe COVID-19.
This includes children with the following conditions:
Dr Norman Swan says you can receive the COVID-19 vaccine at the same time as the flu vaccine.
"The easy thing to do is if you're getting your child a flu vaccine you could get them that too if they're in the group recommended by ATAGI."
Both are available at GP clinics and pharmacies.
Children and adolescents aged 5 to 18 years old that are severe immunocompromised are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine every 12 months, according to the latest advice by ATAGI.
However, it is not recommended.
Dr Swan says patients who are eligible for the vaccine should base it off when they last were vaccinated, not when they last were infected with COVID-19.
The Australian Immunisation Handbook COVID-19 chapter has further details, including recommendations for people who have never received a COVID-19 vaccine.