JCVI member says Covid jabs for five - 11s still 'under active consideration'
23 December 2021, 08:53
JCVI Member: Jabs for 5-11s still 'under consideration'
A decision as to whether all children aged five to 11 might get the jab "is still under very active consideration", a scientist has said.
Professor Adam Finn, a professor of paediatrics at the University of Bristol and a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), told LBC's Nick Ferrari: "There are a number of moving parts to that decision.
"We see very, very few severe cases in this young age group, happily, so there is not much serious disease to be prevented.
"The factor that persuaded the Government to introduce vaccination for older children was the disruption of their education and the ability of vaccines to reduce ... transmission of infection among children as well as between children and adults.
"With the Omicron variant, in particular, the ability of the vaccines to do that will be reduced.
"Many of these children will now already have had the infection. We just need to weigh up all of those things and make sure that a decision to move forward would benefit those children and actually do some good."
The conversation comes amid the news that estimated Covid infections among five to 11-year-olds are three times more prevalent than in the general population.
A Government-backed study suggests 4.5% of primary school-aged children have the virus.
Yesterday, ministers were advised to offer a lower-dose version of the Pfizer vaccine to certain five to 11 year-olds.
