Following others' suit UK approves vaccines for children 12-15s

Vaccinations for children and booster shots for at-risk adults are expected to be part of a “tool kit” to control COVID-19 infections this fall and winter that Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to announce Tuesday at a news conference.

On Monday, the chief medical officers of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland recommended that children ages 12 to 15 be given a single dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, despite the government’s vaccine advisors saying this month that the step would have only marginal health benefits.

The government has said it’s highly likely to follow the recommendation.

Other countries — including the United States, Canada, France and Italy — already offer coronavirus vaccines to children 12 and up, but Britain has held off. It is currently inoculating people 16 and up, and almost 90% of those eligible have had at least one vaccine dose.

The chief medical officers said Monday that vaccination would help limit transmission of the virus in schools and help children’s mental health by reducing disruption to education.

England Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said vaccinating kids was not “a panacea,” but was “an important, potentially useful additional tool” in the fight against the virus.

Whitty said it had been a finely balanced decision.

SOURCE: AP