JAB ALL OVER-5S TO SAVE SCHOOLS
As classrooms close and thousands of pupils and teachers self-isolate, SNP’s leading virus adviser pleads:
CHILDREN as young as five should be vaccinated ‘as soon as possible’ as schools struggle to stay open, one of the SNP’s key Covid advisers has warned.
Professor Linda Bauld called for all primary pupils to be jabbed as some schools were forced to close last week and thousands of children returned to learning at home. Her comments are likely to spark controversy as many parents expressed concern about vaccinating children when the Scottish Government announced plans to jab 12 to 15-year-olds.
But last night Professor Bauld, an expert in public health at Edinburgh
University, insisted that now is the time to extend the rollout to all primary school pupils.
Professor Bauld, the Scottish Government’s social policy adviser, said: ‘I think it would be reasonable to extend eligibility to all five to 11year-olds.
‘That would help avoid them being absent from school.
‘While the health risks are tiny, you would prevent a small number of paediatric admissions.
‘They don’t miss learning, they don’t become unwell, and you are also helping to reduce levels of the virus in the community.’
Covid is already causing havoc in schools across the country.
Thousands of pupils have been either unable to attend or sent home to learn remotely. Some schools were closed completely on Friday due to staff shortages because of the virus, while others instructed classes, or entire year groups, to learn from home.
In other developments:
The UK became the seventh country to pass 150,000 Covid deaths. A further 313 were reported yesterday – up almost 40 per cent week on week – taking the total to 150,057;
Scotland recorded 12,602 new cases of coronavirus and there were 26 Covid-related deaths;
A leading doctor warned that there would be more major incidents declared at Scottish hospitals and the Army would increasingly be called in to help due to NHS staff shortages;
UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid hit out at anti-vaccination fanatics for causing ‘senseless disruption’ in recent weeks at schools, testing centres and even a pantomime.
Calls for children aged five and over to be vaccinated have been growing since the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) decided last week not to recommend a fourth jab for older Scots. That has allowed a focus on giving 12 to 15-year-olds their second dose, with vulnerable children aged 11 and under also set to be vaccinated later this month.
Professor Bauld said: ‘I welcome the JCVI decision not to boost. I would like them to look at vaccinating five to 11-year-olds. So far they have said those who have things like neurodegenerative conditions, or childhood cancers, would be eligible. I think there would be 330,000 children who would therefore be eligible across the UK.
‘But they have not yet taken a decision on the rest of five to 11year-olds. If you think about the longer term, and what will happen if we are not doing anything to prevent transmission in younger children, I think it would be reasonable to extend eligibility to all five to 11-year-olds.’
Professor Bauld, who stressed she was speaking as an independent expert and not for the Scottish Government, added: ‘I don’t have all the evidence in front of me that the JCVI has. It’s very important we take a measured approach.
‘But given the number of countries making this vaccine available to five to 11-yearolds, who regard it as safe and effective, and given the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has approved it for use on five to 11-year-olds, I would hope that we can roll it out more widely as soon as possible.’
Last year, Nicola
Sturgeon urged the JCVI to ‘quickly’ approve vaccinations for older children. But the UK expert body ruled that there was ‘insufficient evidence’. It was only when it was passed to the UK’s four chief medical officers that the decision was taken to vaccinate 12 to 15-year-olds.
The US, and several European countries, including Germany, Spain, Greece and Hungary, have vaccinated those over five, with evidence in the US that it has led to reduced hospitalisation.
Headteachers had already warned that the levels of infection and selfisolation rules would make it hard to keep schools open.
In a bid to ease staffing pressure on businesses and public services, Ms Sturgeon cut the requirement for self-isolation from ten to seven days, as long as lateral flow tests have returned negative results on both the sixth and seventh day. However, most councils saw schools return last week, and many of those reported disruption due to Covid.
In Dumfries and Galloway, Borgue and Sanquhar primary schools shut completely on Friday, with pupils learning at home.
The same was true of Muckhart Primary School in Clackmannanshire, while East Lothian was badly hit, with five out of six high schools sending some year groups home, along with ten primary classes.
All S4 to S6 pupils at Charleston Academy, Inverness, many preparing for key exams, were told to work from home.
While schools in West Dunbartonshire managed to stay open, there were still 1,204 pupils off on Wednesday and 1,102 on Thursday.
Glasgow also struggled with pupil absences. Almost 6.5 per cent of primary pupils and nearly 7 per cent of those at high school were off.
With some councils not restarting schools until this week, and cases expected to rise further, absences are set to soar.
A Scots Tory spokesman said: ‘We trust the JCVI will carefully weigh up all the risks and benefits.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘We are working with local authorities to keep a close eye on school staffing levels. We continue to roll out the vaccination programme guided by the JCVI.’
‘Helping to reduce levels of virus in community’