UK set to offer coronavirus vaccine shots to 16 and 17-year-olds

The UK government is soon expected to roll out Covid shots to more than a million 16 and 17-year-olds, media reports said on Wednesday.

The roll out is based on recommendations of the independent UK Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), but it is not known when the jabs will start, the BBC reported.

Currently, the vaccine is offered to people aged above 12 with underlying conditions or living with others at high risk.

The JCVI had, last month, recommended Covid jabs to children aged over 12, who are at higher risk of getting ill and to those on the verge of turning 18.

But, it delayed it as it was awaiting for further reports of rare adverse events such as inflammation of heart muscles among young adults, the report said.

However, the new advice as hinted by Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's on Tuesday, said "hoping" to receive updated advice from the JCVI on the vaccination of 16 and 17-year-olds.

Sturgeon said the UK's four chief medical officers had written to the JCVI, asking them to look again at vaccination advice for young people, the report said.

The only Covid jab currently authorised in the UK for under-18s is the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

According to the Telegraph, Pfizer and Moderna vaccines would be available in line with guidance for young adults.

Countries, including the US, Canada and France, have already rolled out vaccines for people aged 12-years-old and above.

According to the latest UK government data, 88.7 per cent of people in the UK have now had one dose of vaccine, while 73 per cent have had two jabs.

--IANS

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