GIVE COVID JAB TO CHILDREN NOW
Expert: We don’t have to wait for JCVI on rollout to 12-15-year-olds
SCOTLAND could press ahead with vaccinating 12 to 15-year-olds without approval from the JCVI in a bid to suppress the virus, a leading public health expert has said.
Professor Andrew Watterson yesterday insisted the country is not bound by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which advises UK health departments.
He said Nicola Sturgeon does not have to wait for a green light on expanding the rollout and there are ‘significant arguments’ to do so immediately.
So far, everyone over 16 has been offered a vaccination, but the JCVI is yet to rule on whether younger teens and children can receive jabs. Professor Watterson, of Stirling University’s public health department, told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme: ‘If we look at what is going on elsewhere, the Centers for Disease Control, the US Government agency, is very cautious, it says that vaccination with 12 to 15-year-olds is OK. ‘Denmark is doing it, France is doing it, Austria is doing it, Switzerland started its programme in July which, when you think about returning to schools, makes good sense.
‘We are just looking at it now when our schools are back, so there are significant arguments for pressing ahead rather than waiting for the JCVI, which of course, in Scotland we don’t have to. It’s a binding approach in England, but not in Scotland.’
It comes after Professor Devi Sridhar, one of Miss Sturgeon’s top Covid advisers, tweeted: ‘My personal opinion is UK has lost the vaccination head start it had by JCVI wavering on teens. JCVI not meant for emergency situations. Denmark has fully vaccinated 80 per cent of 12+ and in strong position to lift restrictions.’
Speaking last week, Miss Sturgeon said she hoped the JCVI would be in a position to recommend vaccinations for youngsters ‘very, very soon’.
UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid said that he believes extending the rollout to younger people would provide an extra ‘wall of protection’ in the fight against coronavirus.
Professor Watterson said that 18 to 29-year-olds need more encouragement to get vaccinated, and warned that one in two are yet to be double-jabbed.
He added: ‘We freed things up knowing people would be going back into workplaces, in the hospitality sector and so on, and yet a very small percentage of them would be double vaxxed.’
Professor Watterson also suggested that officials should consider introducing vaccine passports, a move Miss Sturgeon has said she is ‘actively considering’ for pubs, nightclubs and other venues. He added: ‘I think that’s something that is definitely worth exploring, if it is shown as something that is going to work.’
Some coronavirus restrictions remain in place in Scotland’s schools, with secondary pupils required to wear masks in class.
Scottish Labour health spokesman Jackie Baillie said: ‘Covid levels are spiralling out of control across Scotland as ministers come back from their summer off. Instead of learning the lessons from last year, the SNP have wasted the last two months, and now we are sending pupils back to unsafe schools and unvaccinated students off to university.
‘Test and Protect has been all but abandoned and the vaccine rollout has stalled, but the Covid Recovery Group didn’t have a single meeting.
‘The SNP’s attitude has been nothing short of negligent. It is little wonder cases are at an all-time high. We need to see some real accountability when the new parliamentary term starts, so we can get the virus back under control and keep people safe.’
The Scottish Government was contacted for comment.
SHOULD 12-year-olds be pressured into being vaccinated against a disease which poses them almost no danger?
In normal times, the answer would be an unequivocal no. But with infections rising, fuelled by pupils returning to the classroom, the situation is more complicated.
Children aged 16 and 17 are already being offered the jabs.
Now the NHS is planning to extend them to those aged 12 to 15, and calls are growing for those proposals to be fast-tracked even before the JCVI has ruled on the safety and efficacy of doing so.
This should not be a decision taken lightly – but there are powerful arguments in favour.
If infections keep surging, schools may have to close again. And if there were another lockdown, the economic recovery could stall and the national debt would continue to spiral.
More fundamentally, by being vaccinated youngsters would be protecting their parents and grandparents. So although their own chances of suffering badly from the virus are negligible, vaccinating the young would undoubtedly serve the greater good of society.
As heirs to that society, it is they who will ultimately benefit if the mass vaccination programme is extended.