Thread by @SGriffin_Lab

So, yet again the UK is an outlier for kids vax.
Kids turning 5 after Aug22 are now unable to access SARS2 vax.
This is short-sighted, will cause profound harm in the short term, and could be detrimental to "living with" COVID in the longer term. Short 🧵

gov.uk/government/pub…

The UK has an established narrative that infection in children, esp Omicron, is harmless. Whilst IFR in recent ADULT vaccinees is lower, we've long known that omicron ≈ delta 4 <18s. So MASSIVE prevalence = huge impact. Excellent summary from @dgurdasani1

https://twitter.com/dgurdasani1/status/1567045963696545793?t=kma82PIWw012cGNcm_wWhQ&s=19

There are many that quote the incidence of severe disease in kids relative to adult disease, this is the wrong comparison. Other vax preventable infections in kids cause ⬇️⬇️harm. Also, ratios are fine 4 personal risk, but you MUST assess ABSOLUTES across populations.

Parents and carers should also remember that severe disease is not the only outcome. Morbidity and sometimes major long term complications are devastating for CYP.
#LongCovidKids is well recognised by @WHO, yet UK exceptionalism strikes again.
@LongCovidKids, @BinitaKane

There's a growing idea that allowing kids to be infected with SARS2 is somehow beneficial. This perverse twist on the hygiene hypothesis is profoundly worrying and shows poor understanding again of individual vs population risks and Immunity.
Yes, there are certainly differences

in disease course depending upon age of exposure, and there are too many infections to vax vs all, but we accept the price of a certain level of more severe disease because the population comes out OK. This is part of the balance maintaining endemicity for many viruses, but it

doesn't mean this couldn't be improved upon.
I always refrain from virus top trumps bc kids (and adults) can be laid low by flu, RSV, rhino, AdV etc, just ask @SmallRedOne, but we accept this pragmatically fue to sheer numbers.
Disrupting this equilibrium has been referred to as

"Immunity debt"...again, this comes down to population vs individual risks. Influenza was effectively eliminated in the UK by COVID mitigations, and we're rightly concerned that it's coming back. BUT, we have good vaccines, with the right support we can deal with this. Other

viruses have reestablished since schools returned in 2021...RSV and others have been nasty...we don't have the right tools to deal with this. However, this has been used as a stick with which to beat the idea of kids COVID vax...just cos we can't fix one problem we ignore others?

Obviously not. Where would we be if we took the view that the diseases covered by the preschool vax programmes should be left to "natural" infection to establish a new endemic set point? Was Wakefield not damaging enough with MMR? The recent polio scare is deeply troubling, BUT

our inclusion of polio in kids vax means recent boosters are thankfully precautionary, rather than desperately necessary...
Why don't we use vax for all these diseases? Well, it's partly logistics, cost v benefits etc as you'd expect, but sometimes, as with RSV, we simply can't.

The other human coronaviruses are in this infection/endemic balancing act, and we accept the price, but, we also lack the tools. Previous veterinary coronavirus vax were poorly effective. We also see reinfection with these viruses every few years...this is partly what maintains

their equilibrium. BUT, we have a situation with SARS2 where not only do vaccines work much better, but as a population the consequences of not vaccinating are profound...vax will stabilise things towards endemicity far quicker than allowing mass/multiple reinfection in kids and

adults alike. Why wait, especially when the cost to society is so large?
We know infection alone in kids generates poor immunity vs infection, vax, or vax+infection (never ideal) is many times better.
Any vax carries risk, but the paediatric dose effectively negates myocarditis

risk in kids, the risk v benefit was agreed by JCVI and other groups across the planet. In many countries this applies to <5s as well, ask @PeterHotez
SARS2 is currently not stable virologically either, new VoCs and overall prevalence means we cannot just crowbar this into being

another seasonal CoV, at least not until we start to see a balance. Protection of kids before they enter the COVID crucible of unmitigated primary schools seems like a no brainer, surely? We can also infer from adults that at least some protection vs #LongCovidKids should ensue.

Finally, as above, we're NOT in an endemic scenario for SARS2, which could take years. Not routinely vaccinating kids will mean this takes far longer, kids will suffer, and vax cannot currently do this job alone. As with adults, we STILL need #vaccinesPLUS, not ignorance. OK...

so, it was a slightly longer 🧵 than intended, but this situation is so excruciatingly upsetting and frustrating.
@covidinquiryuk needs to consider this, urgently, ideally in preference to the guff from U4T or HART...
In the meantime, please protect kids from flu and SARS2 💉🙏