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| Students get tested for the coronavirus at a high school in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap |
By Bahk Eun-ji
Concerns are growing among parents as children aged 12 to 17 will be allowed to get COVID-19 vaccines starting next month.
Their main concerns are related to possible side effects, but they are also worried about the social disadvantages caused by not being vaccinated.
According to a detailed plan for vaccination of this age group released Tuesday by the Korea Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, vaccination will not be compulsory for children, and will be carried out based only on the consent of a parent or a legal guardian.
However, the public health authorities believe that the benefits of vaccinating children do not outweigh the risks of infection overwhelmingly, unlike with other age groups.
The probability of developing a serious case of COVID-19 is significantly lower for children than for other age groups. As well, the parents cited fears of their children developing heart problems after vaccination, citing a report published by the Journal of Korean Medical Science earlier this year which recommended "Close monitoring for the occurrence of myocarditis/pericarditis… after the introduction of the COVID-19 vaccine to adolescents."
Kim So-young, the mother of a middle school student in Seoul's Gwangjin District, said that she spent almost a month considering the pros and cons of whether her son should get vaccinated.
The number of infections in her neighborhood has been increasing since the beginning of the fall semester, but Kim said that she still does not feel at ease about the vaccine's possible side effects.
"I haven't decided yet whether to get the vaccine for my son, but I feel like we are stuck in limbo, because if my son doesn't get the vaccine, he could get infected with the coronavirus or be bullied," Kim said.
Jung Da-woon, another mother of a middle school student in southern Seoul's Seocho District, said she that decided not to vaccinate her 14-year-old son, but is concerned that he might be bullied by his peers.
"My son wants to receive the vaccine once he becomes eligible, saying that unvaccinated students can be blamed for spreading the virus if infections occur in schools, and that may lead to bullying," Jung said.
So far, 11,191 patients in Korea aged 12 to 17 have been confirmed to have been infected with COVID-19, accounting for 397.1 per 100,000 people, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The rate of COVID-19 infection per 100,000 people in all age groups is 458.9, with a rate of 612.7 in the 18-29 age group. These rates are much lower that the infection rates of children and adolescents.
In addition, three of the total confirmed COVID-19 patients aged 12 to 17 in Korea have developed serious cases, amounting to an overall rate of 0.03 percent getting seriously ill from COVID-19. This rate is lower compared to the 2.47 percent of all patients here who become seriously ill, and the 0.19 percent aged 18 to 29. There have been no deaths in the 12-17 age group here yet.
As for the vaccine side effects, 15 cases of myocarditis and pericarditis were confirmed among high school seniors in Korea, but all of the patients recovered.
"For healthy children and adolescents without underlying diseases, considering the overall risks and benefits of getting vaccinated, including the adverse reactions and long-term safety concerns, the benefits are higher than the risks. However, the benefits are not overwhelmingly high," Choi Eun-hwa, head of the Korea Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, said in a briefing on Monday.
"That's why the committee and the government recommend that children get vaccinated, but they are not in a position to recommend children get vaccinated unconditionally," she said.
"There are parents and children themselves who really want the children to get vaccinated, so the government is giving them the opportunity to choose."
