Javid approves Covid jabs for five-year-olds
CHILDREN aged five to 11 will be offered a lower dose of Covid-19 vaccinations from April.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid announced plans for the non-urgent rollout yesterday.
It comes after experts on the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) decided the risk to youngsters of severe illness is tiny.
They said that despite studies showing only a small number of children were badly affected by Covid, jabs would give protection in the event of future waves.
Almost six million children will be offered two doses, three months apart, of the Pfizer/BioNTech paediatric vaccine – a third of the strength of the adult version.
Mr Javid said: “The NHS is already offering vaccines to at-risk children and those who live with immunosuppressed people in this age group. The NHS will prepare to extend this nonurgent offer to all children during April so parents can take up the offer to increase protection against future waves of Covid-19 as we learn to live with this virus.”
Prevent
It is thought that more than 85 per cent of five to 11-year-olds have already had coronavirus.
It is estimated that children receiving two doses could prevent 98 hospital admissions for every million vaccinated in a severe Covid wave, or 17 admissions in a less severe wave.
Data from the US, where eight million children are jabbed, suggests there are fewer than two cases of myocarditis – heart inflammation – linked to the vaccine for every million children jabbed.
The committee could not determine if jabs reduce absences from school because some children may take time off if they have mild sideeffects after having the jab.
Prof Wei Shen Lim, from the JCVI, warned: “Important childhood vaccinations, such as MMR and HPV, have fallen behind due to the pandemic. It is vital these continue and are not displaced by the rollout of the Covid19 vaccine to this age group.”
Yesterday’s virus data showed new daily cases at 54,218, bringing the total for the past week to 354,884 – a drop of 26.8 per cent on the previous seven days.The daily reported deaths were 199, making a total of 1,086 in the past week – a decrease of 28.8 per cent on the previous period.