'A bit over a fifth of all COVID cases are under the age of 12', says Professor Skerritt
"We are often asked 'why vaccinated kids?' Because kids do not generally get as sick as adult. But I emphasise the word generally," Professor Skerritt says.


"There are 2.3 million kids in this age group, and some rather sobering statistics. A bit over a fifth of all cases of COVID are actually in the under 12 's.


"Indeed, some of the early data with Omicron suggests it may actually be higher for the Omicron variant.


"Our under 12 's who are currently unvaccinated to catch COVID. While most kids to get fairly mild infection and only a limited number end up in ICU, there are bigger impacts. Unfortunately about one in 3,000 of the kids who get COVID actually end up with this funny immunological condition called multisystem inflammatory condition. Those kids can end up being very sick for months. It is not the same as long COVID but it has some things in common, and it has a whole range of symptoms where the kid is just not well.


"That is one of the things we are protecting against by vaccinating children. One of the other things, of course, is the ability for kids to live a normal life. I couldn't imagine, if I was a young kid, having had two years of interrupted school, not being able to play sport and all the normal social things, catching up with friends.


"The effects on social and educational and sporting and physical development of these kids as being affected by COVID and the ability to vaccinate those kids so that they can return to those activities, their parents can be confident they can return to those activities, is a real step ahead.


"We do know that kids often transmit the virus back to their families. About two-thirds do, and at a lower rate they also transmit the virus within the broader school context." 6park.com