WATCHDOG SAYS NO TO JAGS FOR ALL TEENAGERS
Sturgeon dilemma as JCVI won’t recommend schools jab rollout
CHILDREN aged between 12 and 15 years old will not be given the Covid-19 vaccine, the UK’s expert advisory body has ruled.
Watchdog the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation said there is insufficient evidence to support giving jabs to them.
The move will come as blow to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who had urged the expert body to approve jabs as Scotland has faced rising Covid infections after the school holidays.
Scotland was “ready to go” with a Covid-19 vaccination programme for 12 to 15-year-olds as soon as experts gave the go-ahead, according to Professor Jason Leitch, the country’s national clinical director.
Sturgeon had urged the JCVI to make a decision “quickly”.
Now the JCVI has said the Government should consider wider issues including disruption to schools.
The decision not to offer jabs to healthy children was based on concern over an extremely rare side effect of the Pfizer vaccine which causes heart inflammation.
As children are at such low risk from the virus, they decided vaccination would offer “marginal gain” and, therefore, there was “insufficient” evidence to offer mass vaccination.
Some in the scientific community argued last night that all kids aged 12 and over should be offered a vaccine. An open letter to UK Education Secretary Gavin Williamson warned that allowing mass infection of children is “reckless”.
The JCVI has left ministers with the option of overruling the watchdog.
Leitch said: “They haven’t come down and said do or don’t do it – they said we’re not recommending it yet – we’re going to keep looking.
“The final decision will be with ministers and I would have thought that would be a four-country decision.”
Meanwhile, an extra 200,000 teens with underlying conditions will now be eligible for two doses.