AFP :
The UK government’s independent advisory body on vaccines said Friday it would not recommend jabbing all 12- to 15- year-olds against coronavirus, arguing the benefits were “too small”.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), a panel of
experts which advises ministers, has been weighing the issue after numerous other countries began giving the jabs to young teens.
It has previously recommended giving approved Covid-19 vaccines to all 16- and 17-year-olds but only to 12- to 15-year-olds who have underlying health conditions that make them more vulnerable to the virus.
On the advice of the JCVI, Britain’s four chief medical officers-in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland-will now provide further input ahead of a final government decision.
The committee, which focuses purely on health effects, wants them to consider the “wider societal impacts, including educational benefits” of whether to roll out vaccines to younger teens.
Schools have returned recently across Britain following the summer break,
with fears that this could lead to a new surge in cases after weeks of moderate rises in infections.
In its recommendation, the JCVI argued the benefits from vaccination are “marginally greater than the potential known harms” of the inoculations,
while acknowledging there was “considerable uncertainty” about those.
