OFFERING a Covid-19 vaccine to 16 and 17-year-olds could reduce transmission of the virus and limit disruption to their schooling, experts have said.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is expected to make a recommendation on extending the vaccination programme “imminently”, officials have said.
The Welsh Government, as well as the UK, Scottish and Northern Irish governments, are waiting on the advice.
If approved more than a million more teenagers will be eligible to get a vaccine.
The latest data from the React study, tracking Covid-19 in the population, showed that younger people had driven a recent surge in infections in England, and scientists said extending the vaccine programme would reduce transmission and limit the spread of the virus in winter months.
Asked about giving 16 and 17-year-olds a vaccine, Steven Riley, professor of infectious disease dynamics at Imperial College London and co-author of the React study, told LBC: “Our data would support that in that we’d expect there to be a really good knock-on effect from extending the vaccinations for that group.”
Offering a vaccine to children age 12 and over “would also reduce transmission”, he added.
He said: “What we should probably think about is September, October, November: how much immunity can we have in order to hopefully keep prevalence going down, so there is justification in extending those vaccinations down.”
Professor Paul Elliott, director of the React programme, and chairman of epidemiology and public health medicine at Imperial, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The big increase in the virus was being driven by these younger age groups, so anything we can do to reduce transmission in that group would be helpful.”
Professor Peter Openshaw, a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) which advises the Government, said jabbing teenagers could have a “major effect” on the return of the virus in winter.
The professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London said: “JCVI are right to continue to monitor safety data from UK studies and from other countries, balancing risks and benefits of vaccination vs natural infection at different ages.
“Vaccination of teenagers may have a major effect on the return of Covid next winter, assuming that the rates will drop this summer.
“Full vaccination takes time, so the sooner we start, the sooner this age group will be protected.”
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said extending the programme would reduce disruption to schooling.
“Anything that gives the reassurance to young people that they are being treated in the way that the adult population is and that their education won’t be disrupted to the extent it has been – that has to be welcomed,” he told the Today programme.
“I’m sure many parents, with their youngsters, will think at last we’re starting to give a real sense of priority to young people’s education.
“I think that generally… young people feel they’ve been let down educationally. If this is one way we can get rid of that disruption I think we will see a great sense of a lot of young people, not all, but a lot of young people thinking, ‘Actually, I’m going to have the vaccine, just like my mum or my dad has’.”
Under existing guidance some under-18s are eligible for a jab if they have certain health conditions, live with someone who is immunocompromised, or are approaching their 18th birthday.
Around 1.4 million 16 and 17-year-olds will be eligible when the programme is extended.
They are expected to receive the Pfizer vaccine, which has been approved for use in the UK for people aged 12 and over.
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