Former government adviser Neil Ferguson said the UK may approve widespread Covid-19 vaccination for children aged 12-15, ignoring the recommendations of its vaccine committee, which described the risk-benefit calculations as “very balanced”.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) said on Friday that children with underlying diseases should be vaccinated, but it said that health reasons alone cannot guarantee universal vaccination to children of this age group.
The company said it hopes to learn more about the long-term effects of reports of rare heart inflammation (i.e. myocarditis) on young people after being vaccinated with Pfizer.
However, the government stated that before making a final decision, it will consult a medical adviser to consider other factors, such as whether the school is disrupted.
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Ferguson, an epidemiologist at Imperial College London, said that JCVI has always been conservative in assessing the small risk of myocarditis caused by mRNA vaccines, adding that Covid-19 infection itself may cause the same situation, but the risk data is not so. good.
In an interview with the Government Research Institute on Monday, he said: “I think vaccinating people at that age is also beneficial.”
“As long as you are convinced that there are some personal benefits, then I think the call for population welfare is effective. Those who will be vaccinated for that age group will reduce the spread of the entire population (and) it will protect the more vulnerable.
“Wait, I think we will eventually switch to vaccinating (…) 12-15 year old children.”
