BRIT kids will only get Covid jabs if they’re vulnerable as ministers shun plans for mass vaccinations amid scientists’ fears, a report claims.
Professor Chris Whitty has said that officials are looking into whether youngsters should get the jab – but the “big priority” is getting all over-18s inoculated first.
The UK has opted against mass Covid-19 vaccinations for all children and teenagers.
Ministers are instead preparing to offer doses to vulnerable 12 to 15-year-olds and those about to turn 18, the Telegraph reported on Saturday.
Or, the jabs will be offered to kids aged between 12 and 15 who live with adults who are immunosuppressed or whose health is otherwise at risk from the coronavirus.
They will be offered the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is believed to have advised ministers against the rollout of jabs to all children until further evidence on any health risks is available, the report added.
Guidance on the government’s plan is to be issued on Monday.
It’s expected that the vaccine will also be offered to all 17-year-olds within three months of their 18th birthday, the paper added.
Canada became the first country in the world to authorise a coronavirus vaccine for use on under-16s, closely followed by the US announcing the approval of the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 12 and up.
Hundreds of thousands of American children aged between 12 and 15 have already received a jab after receiving approval from the FDA and CDC.
Kids older than 12 are being also being routinely jabbed in Israel and France.
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Vaccinating pupils should be a priority, school leaders have said, as the Delta Covid variant outbreak has been forcing classes to be sent home.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority has approved the Pfizer vaccine for 12 to 15-year-olds.
But it’s up to vaccine boffins, and ministers as to when the jab will be rolled out to kids.
Teens aged 12 to 15 will be able to sign up to get a Pfizer vaccine when their slot comes to get jabbed.
Dr June Raine, MHRA Chief Executive recently said: “We have carefully reviewed clinical trial data in children aged 12 to 15 years and have concluded that the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine is safe and effective in this age group and that the benefits of this vaccine outweigh any risk.
“We have in place a comprehensive safety surveillance strategy for monitoring the safety of all UK-approved Covid-19 vaccines and this surveillance will include the 12- to 15-year age group.
“No extension to an authorisation would be approved unless the expected standards of safety, quality and effectiveness have been met.
“It will now be for the JCVI to advise on whether this age group will be vaccinated as part of the deployment programme.”
Teaching unions and school leaders said that starting the programme soon would mean that most students would get their two doses by the time the school term starts in September.
General secretary of the NASUWT teaching union Patrick Roach said in June: “Offering young people access to vaccination would not only be of benefit to their safety and help to minimise further disruption to their education, it would also help protect the wider adult population who are at greater risk from Covid.
“With case numbers in schools rising, the JCVI must now study the evidence and come forward with a swift decision on expanding the vaccination programme to younger people.”
‘PRECARIOUS’ POSITION
It comes as unions warn that schools are in a “precarious” situation over Covid outbreaks.
General secretary of the school leaders’ union NAHT Paul Whiteman said the Government should ensure there is no “further widespread disruption to education”.
He told the MailOnline: “We have been hearing from our members that more and more schools are having to close multiple classes or ‘bubbles’, particularly in areas with higher case numbers.”
Dr Sara Kayat wrote in Trending In The News in July that vaccinating kids against the coronavirus “is a contentious issue and, as yet, the Government hasn’t officially advised parents what to do either way.
“So, if you’re one of the millions of parents across the UK unsure of what to do if and when your child is offered a Covid vaccine, there are a few things to take into consideration.
“Firstly, the Government has said since the start of the pandemic that it is being led by the science.
“No vaccine will be offered to children and young people unless the science robustly suggests it’s a good idea and the benefits outweigh the risks.
SAFETY IS TOP PRIORITY
“Secondly, we’re in a privileged position in the UK. We can look at the findings from other countries that have already started vaccinating their young people.
“The US has vaccinated 6million children and there have been 518 confirmed cases of myocarditis, a rare condition that causes inflammation of the heart.
“The cases have largely been seen in boys after the second dose.
“As a result, scientists are now looking into the efficacy of giving young people just one vaccine, not two to reduce the risk of the heart condition.”
She added: “Thirdly, it is important to consider long Covid and its impact on young people.
“We’ve known since the start of this pandemic that young people aren’t as likely to die or go into hospital with Covid as their older relatives.
“But youngsters are at risk of long Covid. The Office for National Statistics has found 13 per cent of under-11s and 15 per cent of 12 to 16-year-olds in the UK who have contracted Covid go on to suffer long-Covid symptoms.
SUPER-SPREADERS
“That’s a sizeable proportion of young people suffering the long-term effects of the virus and worth noting those numbers will reduce if children are vaccinated.”
Professor Anthony Harden, deputy chair of the JCVI said there are pros and cons when it comes to vaccinating children.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4, he said the group would address the issue “in due course”.
He said: “We need to be sure these vaccines benefit children in some way and the risks from the vaccine aren’t such that the risk/benefit ratio doesn’t become sensible to give them the vaccine.
“We are looking at this data very carefully.
“Clearly we are going to have to make a view on it over the forthcoming weeks.”
Martin McKee, professor of European public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a member of Independent Sage told Time Radio said it was “clear” that kids needed to have a jab.
He said: “I think people in the JCVI, who are looking at this from the perspective of the individual child and looking at the risk/benefit balance, are less enthusiastic about vaccinating children, but I’m a public health physician.
“From a population perspective, it’s very clear that we have to vaccinate children.”
- Covid cases have today risen by 70 per cent in a week with a further 54,674 infections reported.
- Deaths have increased by 41, bringing the total to 128,683.
