Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Parents need the pros – and cons, says professor
PROVIDING the facts will be key to persuading parents to accept the Covid vaccine for children if offered to under12s, says a government adviser on behavioural science.
Jabbing children aged five to 11 in the UK is still being considered, with only the clinically vulnerable in that age group currently eligible.
Despite a poll we are conducting so far finding a majority against vaccinating children as young as five, Professor Stephen Reicher believes parents unwilling to risk their children’s health would opt for it if properly informed.
It is vital, he said, concerns about the Covid vaccine for children are heeded and addressed and that both the benefits and risks are explained.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) – whose advice the Scottish Government relies upon – approved the rollout to vulnerable children aged five to 11 in December and is gathering further evidence on the case for offering it to all in that age group.
Professor Reicher, a St Andrews University psychology professor and member of a Sage sub-committee advising the government, said: “Openness is the best policy, because overall the evidence is pretty clear on vaccines.
“In the States they’ve vaccinated millions (of children) without, seemingly, large side effects, and at the moment we are seeing that Omicron does seem to lead to more infections and hospitalisations in young children.”
Providing the facts would make it “almost more likely” parents would be persuaded to take the vaccine for their children than themselves.
He said: “As long as we explain to people ‘actually you’re safeguarding your child by the vaccine’ people are more likely to do it rather than say I’ve got the choice not to do it.
“We’ve got the choice for ourselves to take risks, we don’t feel we’ve got the right to take risks for our children.
“Well handled, in many ways you could argue it will be easier to get children vaccinated if you can show the evidence to the people.”