UK medical officers give nod for Covid-19 vaccines for children

Children aged 12 to 15 should be offered a COVID vaccine, the UK's chief medical officers (CMOs) have decided on Monday.

The medical officers said their recommendation to the government was made after considering "what effect this will have on transmission in schools and effects on education".

"It's a useful tool to reduce the disruption," they said.

According to the decision, healthy children should be offered a single dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and the rollout should begin "as soon as possible".

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The move means around 3 million children could be eligible for the jab, which is expected to be given through schools.

It follows the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) decision against such a rollout purely on health grounds, leaving the final call in the hands of the CMOs after considering wider implications.

The CMOs note in their letter to UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid: “Overall however the view of the UK CMOs is that the additional likely benefits of reducing educational disruption, and the consequent reduction in public health harm from educational disruption, on balance provide sufficient extra advantage in addition to the marginal advantage at an individual level identified by the JCVI to recommend in favour of vaccinating this group.

“They therefore recommend on public health grounds that ministers extend the offer of universal vaccination with a first dose of Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to all children and young people aged 12 to 15 not already covered by existing JCVI advice.”

If government ministers accept this advice, the CMOs say they would want the JCVI to give a further view on whether, and what, second doses to give to children and young people aged 12 to 15 once more data on second doses in this age group has accrued internationally.

The CMOs said the UK has benefited from having data from the US, Canada and Israel, which have already offered vaccines universally to children and young people aged 12 to 15.

It will now be up to the government in the four devolved UK nations – England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland – to decide whether to accept the recommendation of the four CMOs. If they agree, children will be offered the Pfizer/BioNTech jab.

The vaccine is likely to be given in schools and parents will be asked to give consent.

The CMOs said, "on balance", the benefits in reducing disruption and the harm it caused, including to mental health, provided "sufficient extra advantage" to warrant extending vaccination to healthy children in this age group.

Their recommendation that only one dose be given for now is related to the very rare risk of a condition called myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart muscle. The risk is tiny after one vaccine dose and slightly higher after two, with 12 to 34 cases seen for every one million second doses.