London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Covid: Children's education 'will benefit' from jab move

Covid: Children's education 'will benefit' from jab move

Offering jabs to children aged 12 to 15 will help avoid damage to their education and life chances, NI's chief medical officer has said.

Earlier, the UK's four CMOs recommended everyone in that age group be offered one dose of a Covid vaccine.

Sir Michael McBride said: "Education is very important in public health terms."

The CMOs said reducing school disruption tipped the balance in favour of jabbing young people.

They said closures of schools was unlikely, but disruption to face-to-face education was likely given people who test positive have to isolate for 10 days.

It comes after the government's vaccine committee, the JCVI, said there was not enough benefit to warrant it on health grounds alone - but they said ministers could take into account other factors.

'No silver bullet'


Sir Michael said: "The JCVI concluded there was benefit in vaccinating children.

"They did say that the narrow clinical benefit was small, not large enough to recommend universal vaccination.

"But we need to remember that education is very important in public health terms.

"Education is vitally important for our children realising their life opportunities, further employment opportunities."

He added that children from poorer backgrounds had suffered most during the pandemic and they would benefit the most from being in education.

Chief medical officer Sir Michael McBride says the move will have a positive effect on children's education

Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, said the decision was not a "silver bullet", but it would make a difference.

"This is not a single thing that on its own will do so, but we think it is an important and potentially useful additional tool to help reduce the public health impacts that come with educational disruption."

It will now be up to ministers whether to accept the recommendation of the four CMOs.

If they agree, children will be offered the Pfizer jab.

Professor Chris Whitty said there are no plans to rush a decision to vaccinate children under 12 any time soon.

It is likely to be given in schools and parental consent will not be needed if the child is considered competent to give consent themselves.

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood welcomed the recommendation by the chief medical officers.

"Anything that protects our young people and helps stop the spread of the virus will have huge benefits for society," he said.

"It is hoped offering young people a vaccine dose will cut down on transmission of the virus in schools and the number of days our young people miss."

Alliance Party health spokesperson Paul Bradshaw called for a "speedy publicisation" of the plan to offer the jabs.

'Massive impact'


In a letter to ministers, the CMOs warned missing face-to-face school had a "massive impact" on children, both physically, emotional and in terms of their life chances.

The CMOs said it was not possible to quantify to what extent vaccination would help reduce this - the vaccines are less effective at prevention infection against the Delta variant of coronavirus than they were against previous variants.

But they said "on balance" the benefits in reducing disruption and the harm it caused provided "sufficient extra advantage" to warrant extending vaccination to healthy children in this age group.

They said poorer children had been hit hardest by the pandemic and could gain the most from vaccination.

Children with health conditions and those living with clinically vulnerable people have already been told they can get the vaccine.

This accounts for around one in 10 of the three million children in this age group.

The decision by the government's vaccine committee, the JCVI, came amid concerns about a small, but increased risk of heart inflammation after vaccination.

They said vaccination still offered a marginal benefit, but not sufficient enough to convince them a vaccination programme should be rolled out.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
Jellyfish Swarm Triggers Shutdown at Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in Northern France
×