In Russia, adolescents 15-17 years old will be able to give voluntary consent to vaccination against covid themselves

Adolescents 12-17 years old will be vaccinated against covid only upon written application from their parents. This was announced by the chief freelance children’s specialist in preventive medicine of the Ministry of Health, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Leila Namazova-Baranova.

According to her, according to Interfax, parents of children 12-14 years old inclusive will have to give voluntary informed consent to vaccination, and adolescents from 15 to 17 years old can give such consent on their own. Namazova-Baranova stressed that all this will guarantee the voluntariness of vaccination.

The expert recalled that anti-vaccination of adolescents is included in the vaccination calendar for epidemiological indications, but, like other vaccinations, it is voluntary. Namazova-Baranova emphasized that vaccination of adolescents over 12 years old is an important factor in the prevention of not only their infection with coronavirus, but the development of serious post-ovarian complications. In addition, vaccination of adolescents reduces the socially active group of people involved in the transmission of the virus.

Namazova-Baranova emphasized: it is already known that children and adolescents can be seriously ill with covid and even die from it, especially those with chronic diseases, overweight, or those receiving immunosuppressive therapy. Complications of covid also greatly impair the quality of life of adolescents, as they include disorders in the functioning of the cardiovascular system, neurological problems, and cognitive dysfunctions. Vaccination helps to avoid the severe consequences of complications.

Recall that the Ministry of Health on December 20 issued an order to include adolescent coronavirus vaccination in the calendar of preventive vaccinations for epidemic indications.