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Sixteen-year-olds will be offered a first vaccine against the coronavirus in the coming weeks and will not need their parents’ consent to be vaccinated.
The Joint Committee on Immunization and Immunization (JCVI) advised that the rollout should be expanded to include 16 and 17 year olds after reviewing the latest data.
Ministers accepted the recommendation and the NHS is preparing to start giving the first doses to around 1.4 million children.
Immunization experts have yet to set when young people should receive their second dose, and will make further recommendations in the coming weeks.
Officials close to the program have said that under current UK guidelines, if a child is able to understand the risks and benefits of any medical treatment, they can legally give consent without their parents’ advice.
The consent of the child or youth is considered the most appropriate consent, even if a parent does not agree.
Professor Wei Shen Lim, chair of Covid-19 of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI), has confirmed that 16-year-olds can receive the vaccine without parental consent.
“In the UK, a person aged 16 and over is considered capable of consenting for themselves, and if they are competent and capable of consenting for themselves, then that consent is valid,” he said. he declares.
It is understood that authorities do not rule out vaccinations for otherwise healthy 12 to 15 year olds, but wish to consider more information first.
Currently, children over 12 are only eligible for a vaccine if they have certain medical conditions that put them at risk for Covid-19 or adolescents who live with people who are immunocompromised.
Some commentators have lauded the move to hit older teens, saying expanding the immunization program will help reduce infection rates and virus transmission as well as curb disruption to schooling.
Children will receive the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, which has been approved for use in the UK for people aged 12 and over.
Experts are constantly reviewing data on vaccines for children.
Information that prompted them to reconsider the position on immunizing children aged 16 and 17 included the recent surge in infections, more evidence on vaccine safety, and excellent progress in the adult immunization program.
JCVI said a number of factors were taken into account, but the most important element was the risk / benefit of the vaccination for the individual.
Before concluding, the JCVI declared that it had taken into account the potential adverse effects following vaccination, the frequency and severity of severe Covid in children and young people, the occurrence of long Covid in children and the impacts on health mental health and education of Covid, among other factors. .
Experts from JCVI as well as those from the Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) continuously review vaccine safety reports, both in the UK and abroad.
They said they took into account reports of heart inflammation in some younger adults who had received the vaccine, but officials said it was considered “extremely rare,” affecting about one in 100,000 people vaccinated. effects are “mild” with a short recovery period.
Children who have received the vaccine in clinical trials and real-world data suggest that some experience short-lived side effects after inoculation, including fever, arm pain, headache, and chest pain. tired.
The NHS will soon be making plans for rolling out the program.
Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, deputy chief medical officer for England, said there was “no time to waste” in starting the extension of the vaccination program to 16 and 17 year olds.
He added that he thought it was “well achievable” for the first jabs to be delivered on time.
“The kids are going to start going back to middle and sixth form from September, and in Scotland it will be a bit earlier, so there is no time to waste to keep going,” he said during of a press conference.
“Now we have the advice from JCVI to start that first initial dose in 16 and 17 year olds, so I want us to do this as quickly as possible.
“It won’t be tomorrow, I don’t think it’s probably the start of next week.”
He added: ‘The NHS has been kept informed of what is under deliberation for JCVI, they have been preparing for several options for many, many weeks now and I expect this program to start in a very short time. weeks. “
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he supports the rollout of vaccinations to 16 and 17 year olds after listening to expert advice from JCVI.
He said, “We should listen to them (the JCVI) and follow our example. “
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