Sources have revealed that children could be set to receive covid vaccines from August as part of a government plan to push for maximum immunity. UNN’s Oliver Down understands that the government are hoping to have given jabs to 11 million under 18s before the beginning of the school year.
The government’s timeframe may be dictated to by a major child vaccine study that is being conducted by Oxford University. Conclusions on this are expected in June or July. The proposal to vaccinate children is likely to be controversial as COVID-19 poses a minuscule risk to children and as well as constantly evolving data on vaccine safety.
Public Health England’s figures show that the risk of dying from covid ,if infected, is 1,513 per 100,000 people for the over-80s. However, for children aged five to nine, this is just 0.1 per 100,000. Israel is currently the only country in the world to have rolled out vaccines to children. Currently 16 and 17-year-olds are having jabs.
A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care has said ‘no decisions have been made on whether children should be offered vaccinations’. At yesterday’s press briefing Boris Johnson conceded that eradicating covid wasn’t on the table. He said, ‘I’m not sure that eradication makes sense in a globalised economy for one country alone’.
In other vaccination news the Daily Telegraph have stated that a paper has been submitted to the Covid-19 Operations Cabinet sub- committee to make jabs compulsory for care home staff. This move is likely to raise anger among staff with some saying that the policy could trigger an exodus of staff and even result in a number of human rights lawsuits being brought.
Current Affairs Correspondent | My name is Oliver Down I am 22, and a staunch brexiteer. I am a Bristolian lad who studied politics in Leicester. I believe in free speech and accurate journalism and I won’t be afraid to give you “the other side” of the story!
[sibwp_form id=4]
