Some under 18s could be eligible for Covid vaccines soon
SOME under 18s could be offered Covid vaccines soon in a bid to tackle rising infection rates.
It is thought clinically vulnerable children and teenagers or those living with vulnerable adults could become eligible for jabs. Young people three months away from their 18th birthdays could also be included.
Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi is set to make an announcement on if the changes will be made today.
He told BBC Breakfast a decision on whether to jab healthy children aged 12-17 will be "kept under review".
It comes after the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the group of UK vaccine experts which advises the government, had given the recommendations to ministers for consideration.
‘We have always taken the advice of the JCVI,’ Mr Zahawi told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
‘It has done us well, and we will take their advice on board.’
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Current advice is that 16 to 18-year-olds can be offered a Pfizer jab if they are in a priority group, or live with someone who has a weakened immune system.
If accepted, the new recommendations would extend eligibility to healthy teenagers who are within three months of their 18th birthday, as well as younger vulnerable children and those living with vulnerable adults.
As reported, 141,918 adults in Portsmouth have had at least one vaccine - or 74.7 per cent of the population - compared to 77.6 in England.
105,831 people in the city have had both jabs, or 55.7 per cent, compared to 60.4 nationally.