Young pupils most hesitant on vaccine

YOUNGER schoolchildren are the least prepared to get a Covid jab, a survey has found.

Only around half of 13-year-olds are eager or willing to have a vaccine. Children who spend a lot of time on social media are among those most hesitant about getting the jab.

The survey by Oxford University questioned 27,910 students from 180 schools in England between May and July. It found almost 78 per cent of 17-year-olds are willing to get the jab.

But this fell to 50 per cent of those aged 13 and only around a third of nine-year-olds.

The UK’s chief medical officers have recommended that healthy 12 to 15-year-olds should be offered a jab. The survey results are in the EClinicalMedicine journal.