Jab rollout to be extended to 16-year-olds

THE mass vaccination of children against Covid is to be given approval, putting 16 and 17-year-olds in line to receive the jab.

The Daily Telegraph understands the change in guidance will be announced today after scientific advisers submitted their updated advice to Downing Street.

A government source said that 16 and 17-year-olds would be advised to have the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, matching the guidance for younger adults.

It means more than a million children will be encouraged to have a Covid jab, a move the Government had delayed while awaiting more medical evidence. The US and some European countries are already vaccinating under-18s en masse, and have gone further than the UK is planning to at present by jabbing children as young as 12 in an effort to build up collective immunity.

The new advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) was being considered by Prof Chris Whitty, England’s Chief Medical Officer, last night. One figure close to the Whitehall discussions stressed the process was entirely independent.

The devolved administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland set their own health policy, but on vaccinations the UK has moved as one, with a similar approach expected to be taken on this issue. There are around 1.4 million 16 and 17-year-olds in the UK.

Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish First Minister, hinted at the advice change yesterday, saying she was “hopeful” that updated JCVI guidance on 16 and 17-year-olds was imminent. She also called for children as young as 12 to eventually be offered vaccines.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman declined to confirm the change in advice, saying instead that “we continue to keep the vaccination of children and young people under review”.