Paediatrician: Vaccinate children – they need to go back to school

Head of the Department of Paediatrics at the San Fernando General Hospital Dr Jose Nunez has said children need to go back to school.

Nunez was speaking at the Ministry of Health’s virtual press conference on Wednesday.

He said the physical school environment plays a big role in the mental health of children, as it is where they develop their social skills.

"They need to go back and stay in school."

He said achieving herd immunity against the virus includes having children vaccinated.

“They are part of the 'herd,' after all,” he said. “Children are very good at sharing germs (and) it is common for children to be transmitters.”

He said while it has been debated that because children are less likely to contract the virus, they do not have to be vaccinated, he warned that children can still get covid19 and become seriously ill.

“As paediatricians, vaccinations are our bread and butter,” he said, adding that vaccinations start from the age of two months.

“Most of the time when children come in for the chickenpox vaccine, it is because there is an outbreak in the school, (but) it doesn’t make sense to give a vaccine when there is already an outbreak (because) it takes weeks to be fully protected.”

He said the vaccine will also help with the cross-protection of other children who are unable to take the vaccine for medical reasons.