Brit kids ‘will only get Covid jabs if they’re vulnerable as ministers shun mass vaccinations amid scientists’ fears’

BRIT kids will only get Covid jabs if they’re vulnerable as ministers shun plans for mass vaccinations amid scientists’ fears, it has been reported.

Ministers are said to be preparing to offer doses to vulnerable 12 to 15-year-olds and those about to turn 18.

The jabs will also 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, the Telegraph reports.

They will be offered the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

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 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 government's plan is expected to be issued on Monday.

However, it's also believed 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 in the UK should be a priority, school leaders have said, as the Delta Covid variant outbreak has been forcing entire classes to be sent home.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority has already 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.

From a population perspective, it's very clear that we have to vaccinate children.

Martin McKee, professor of European public health

Dr June Raine, MHRA's CEO, 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."

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";, and that "we are looking at this data very carefully".

Martin McKee, professor of European public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and a member of independent Sage, told Times 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 on Saturday 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