THE UK government was expected to soon give the go-ahead for vaccinating 12 to 15 year olds in England as 91av went to press. But with children already back at school, this may come too late to prevent a surge in cases. Rising infection rates have already been seen in the US and Scotland following the start of term.
“Vaccination, even if started now, would be insufficient to control the surge from schools re-opening in September,” says Deepti Gurdasani at Queen Mary University of London.
In the US, cases in children have increased fivefold, rising from . The ages used to define “children” vary from state to state.
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In Scotland, where children returned to school in mid-August, the number of reported cases in all age groups has soared to the highest levels since the pandemic first began. On 6 September, 7065 new cases were reported.
Not all experts think the return to school is the main culprit, however. “Scotland is definitely seeing a surge in infections at present, though the rate of increase has slowed, not sped up, when you would have expected to start to see any impact of schools going back,” says Paul Hunter at the University of East Anglia, UK.
Several countries, including the US, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, are already vaccinating children aged 12 and over. However, in the UK only those aged 16 or over are being routinely vaccinated.
On 3 September, the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation decided against recommending extending the vaccination programme to children aged 12 to 15 who don’t have underlying conditions or vulnerable family members.
The committee concluded that the health benefits children gain from vaccination are greater than the potential known harms. However, it ruled that those health benefits aren’t great enough to justify mass vaccination.
This decision is controversial. Gurdasani thinks the committee is underestimating the health risks that covid-19 poses to children. . Other countries have approved vaccines for 12 to 15 year olds following analyses with similar conclusions, says Gurdasani. “I think all evidence suggests that vaccination should be offered to this age group.”
Ministers have indicated they are keen to authorise a wider roll-out of vaccines. The government has asked the UK’s chief medical officers to review the wider benefits of vaccinating this age group, such as minimising school absences and helping protect older and vulnerable people. An outcome is expected imminently.
Even if the review gives the go-ahead for vaccinating 12 to 15 year olds, it would probably be at least several months before most are fully vaccinated. In the meantime, there will be widespread infections and disruptions to learning in England as children return to school, not least because the measures being taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus are inadequate, a group of scientists and educators, including Gurdasani, have warned.
In an , Gavin Williamson, in the BMJ on 3 September, the group recommended nine measures to protect children and wider society, including wearing masks (which is mandatory in schools in Scotland) and improving ventilation in schools in addition to vaccination.
“We need multi-layered measures, and we need them urgently,” says Gurdasani.
Additional reporting by Sam Wong
