Covid vaccine warning to children as Dr Nick Coatsworth demands review over myocarditis side effect

dr. Nick Coatsworth has demanded a revision of the Covid vaccine for children amid concerns that they will hardly benefit from getting the shot and are more likely to experience rare side effects.

Australia’s former deputy chief physician said the country should reconsider its stance on giving the dose to children over the age of five.

The UK has stopped offering the vaccine to healthy children who turned five after August, while Sweden no longer recommends it to teenagers aged 12 to 17.

In Denmark, no one under the age of 18 has been able to get vaccinated against Covid since July, while health officials say very small numbers of children are becoming seriously ill with the disease, so vaccination is not necessary.

It comes after recent studies have found that younger people, and especially adult men between the ages of 18 and 25, are at higher risk for myocarditis — the inflammation of the heart, a rare side effect associated with some mRNA shots like Pfizer and Moderna.

dr. Coatsworth clarified that he was still a strong supporter of the Covid vaccine, but admitted parents should exercise caution when considering vaccinating their child.

But he reiterated that there has been only one death from the heart condition linked to the shot in Australia.

“If you’re a healthy child or adolescent, the benefit of the Covid vaccine just isn’t there,” Dr. Coatsworth Friday at 2GB.

“Covid itself will not kill you in that age group.”

The warning from Dr. Coatsworth comes after studies from the peer-reviewed journal The Lancet found higher-than-expected rates of myocarditis in younger people.

Specifically in those under 35 years of age, with the highest risk in men aged 18-25 after their second COVID-19 mRNA vaccine dose, the study read.

‘The data indicate that this side effect mainly occurs within 1-7 days after vaccination.’

The Therapeutic Goods Administration released its weekly Covid safety report Thursday, showing that teens were more likely to develop myocarditis than adults.

The rate for boys aged 12 to 17 was highest with 13.2 per 100,000 experiencing the side effect after the second dose.

The figure was drastically higher than the 18 to 29 age group, with 9.2 per 100,000 suffering from myocarditis.

The percentage for women between the ages of 12 and 17 was slightly higher than the 18- to 29-year-old camp at 2.8 per 100,000 versus 2.7 per 100,000.

‘To my knowledge, only one death has been associated with myocarditis in Australia, which is after 63 million doses of the vaccine,’ said Dr Coatsworth.

dr. Coatsworth said it was an ‘open question’ whether Australia would follow the UK and Sweden and stop recommending the vaccine for healthy children.

The vaccine is still recommended for high-risk groups in the two overseas countries.

In the UK, children who are five years old as of August are still advised to get the vaccine, as is anyone over the age of 11.

“A lot of parents have made the decision not to vaccinate their children and that is a valid decision regardless of the recommendation,” he said.

“Obviously that’s a valid decision because, as you’ve seen, two countries made that decision with their professional immunization body.”