U.K. May Decide on Vaccines for Young Children By Christmas
U.K. could make a recommendation within days on whether the nation should roll out Covid-19 vaccines to young children.
(Bloomberg) -- U.K. government advisers could make a recommendation within days on whether the nation should roll out Covid-19 vaccines to young children.
Once the vaccines are cleared by the U.K. drugs regulator for use in 5-to-11-year-olds, the government’s vaccine advisory panel -- the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation -- will provide an opinion on whether they should be offered to that age group, JCVI Chair Wei Shen Lim told U.K. lawmakers Tuesday.
“We are discussing that at the moment,” he said at a parliamentary committee hearing on the coronavirus and the omicron variant. “We are also waiting for the vaccines to be approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.”
He added the group tries to “keep in step with the approval process” and expects to make a recommendation to the government before Christmas.
The U.K. and its JCVI panel have come under criticism for moving too slowly on Covid-19 vaccines for children.
While the U.S. and much of Europe rolled-out shots to adolescents in the spring and summer, the U.K. waited until September to offer 12-to-15-year-olds vaccines over concerns about rare side effects to the heart. The U.S. started giving children aged 5-to-11 vaccines last month.
The decision comes as the world is grappling with how to best contain omicron, which appears to be more transmissible. The U.K. has responded by accelerating its booster campaign, aiming to offer all adults who have had a second dose at least three months ago a booster by year-end.
The JCVI chair defended the decision not to recommend the rollout of boosters to younger adults earlier, saying the group moved very quickly once omicron was identified. Giving a booster as a precaution in case a variant like omicron emerged could have been counterproductive as peak immunity can be higher with a longer gap after a second dose, Wei Shen said.
Omicron cases in London make up more than 44% of current infections, and Covid cases have doubled over the last four weeks, Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser at the U.K. Health Security Agency, told lawmakers at the same session. Hopkins said that omicron will eventually outpace the delta variant but the two would likely co-exist for some time.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is planning to introduce new restrictions on mask-wearing and use of vaccine passports Tuesday, but faces a major rebellion within his party over the “Plan B” measures. The rules are still expected to pass due to the opposition Labour party’s support.
On Monday, Johnson warned MPs against “complacency” in the face of the highly-transmissible virus and has declined to rule out imposing further restrictions before Christmas.
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