Britain’s Advisory Committee on Vaccination has stated that healthy children aged 12 to 15 should not be vaccinated against COVID-19.
This is reported by Sky News.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) stated that while the benefits of vaccinating healthy children are “marginally greater” than the potential harm, “the amount of benefit is considered too small to support universal vaccination of healthy children ages 12 to 15.”
The government has come under severe criticism for failing to ensure that children over 12 are vaccinated for their return to school. Countries across Europe have been vaccinating this age group for some time to prepare for the school year.
The pressure intensified Friday with a letter published by the British Medical Journal signed by many concerned doctors, educators, and parents. They noted that 40 to 50 children under the age of 18 are hospitalized daily from COVID-19, while 34,000 children so far are living with long-term COVID.
Wei Sheng Lim, chairman of the JCVI on COVID-19 vaccination, said that for healthy young people, “the risk of developing severe COVID-19 disease is small, and therefore the potential benefit of COVID-19 vaccination is also small.” He said the committee adheres to “precautionary measures” in not recommending the vaccination of this group.
