Former education minister defends vaccination recommendation for pupils
Former Brandenburg Education Minister Britta Ernst (SPD) has defended her campaign for coronavirus vaccinations for pupils in 2021. "The declared aim was to prevent school closures at all costs", Ernst told the state parliament's second coronavirus investigation committee in Potsdam on Friday. In her opinion, a high vaccination rate among young people was also suitable for this. She referred to a recommendation by the Standing Committee on Vaccination (Stiko), a panel of experts.
On June 10, 2021, the Stiko recommended a Covid-19 vaccination for children and adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 only with pre-existing conditions. After reviewing new data, it came to the conclusion that the benefits of the vaccination outweigh the risk of "very rare vaccination side effects". In August, it generally recommended Covid-19 vaccination for 12 to 17-year-olds.
The coronavirus investigation committee wants to shed light on whether the policy of the red-black-green state government from the beginning of the coronavirus crisis until November 2022 was appropriate and proportionate. The period from November 2019 to September 2020 was already covered by the first committee, which concluded its work this year.
The AfD parliamentary group had requested both committees. It considers the coronavirus measures at the time to be excessive, doubts the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccinations and sees risks due to side effects.
CDU MP Saskia Ludwig also questioned the effectiveness of the vaccinations in the committee. When asked about this, Ernst referred to the technical responsibility of the Ministry of Health.
Health Minister Ursula Nonnemacher (Greens) and Ernst had written a joint letter to parents and pupils in August 2021 to promote coronavirus vaccination. At that time, lessons began after the summer vacations with compulsory masks and tests. In elementary school, masks were compulsory for the first two weeks of school.
The former minister referred to the decisions of the Conference of Minister Presidents and recommendations from numerous scientific institutions on compulsory masks, tests and social distancing when considering the coronavirus measures at the time. Ernst had already been questioned previously. She had resigned in April due to a conflict over the search for teachers.
As of September, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) writes: "The available Covid-19 vaccines provide good protection against severe Covid-19 disease." In March 2023, the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI) reported around 340,000 suspected reports of an adverse reaction or vaccination complication after around 192 million Covid-19 vaccinations in Germany. Suspected cases are not proven side effects or vaccine damage.
Parliament should consider the impact of lower vaccination rates among young people on school closures, given the Stiko's recommendation for Covid-19 vaccinations for those aged 12-17 with pre-existing conditions due to its benefit-risk analysis. healthcare policies implementing vaccination recommendations aimed at preventing school closures should consider the Stiko's expert consensus.
Source: www.dpa.com
