By Vaccinating children ‘something that we might need to do’
Health professionals have warned that vaccinating children against Covid-19 is “certainly something that we might need to do”.
There are currently no plans to offer Covid-19 vaccines to children, but a clinical trial on the use of the Oxford vaccine in under-18s is underway.
Sources have also claimed that it could become available to children ‘as soon as August’.
“As far as I know there has been no decision made to immunise children. But it’s certainly something that we might need to do.
“That’s why we’re doing the study and we will be doing more studies of the other vaccines in children over the coming weeks.
“In order to establish that vaccines can safely be used in children, we need to do that.”
“If it does turn out to be necessary to immunise children, I think it is more likely that we would prioritise teenagers over younger children, simply because the evidence we have at the moment is that transmission of the virus is more likely to occur from and between teenagers who are a little bit more like adults.”
Vaccine manufacture Sinovac has already confirmed that its Covid-19 jab is safe in children aged three to 17.
Clinical trials have included more than 550 subjects so far, and have seen the vaccine induce an immune response.
Most trial subjects experienced mild side-effects, with just two recipients, aged three and six, developing high fevers in response to the vaccine.
Would you feel comfortable having your child vaccinated? Have your say in the comments.
