More young people in the UK could soon be offered the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine – here’s a look at the details…
Why could more groups of people be able to get vaccinated against COVID-19 for the first time?
Healthy children aged 12-15 should be offered one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, the UK’s Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) have said.
The new advice from the four CMOs came after the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) concluded earlier this month that the health benefits from coronavirus vaccination are only marginally greater than the potential known harms for those in the age 12 to 15 category. On 3 September, the JCVI had recommended that the UK’s four Chief Medical Officers give advice to the UK’s governments after looking at the potential impacts of COVID-19 on young people in this age range.
On Monday 13 September, the four Chief Medical Officers advised universal vaccination of these age groups after they had considered “what effect this will have on transmission in schools and effects on education”.
What happens next?
While the vaccination of 12-15-year-olds has now been recommended, this does not necessarily mean that vaccinations will go ahead.
The Government is expected to accept the recommendations though, and has said it will announce its decision soon.
