Covid in Scotland: 'Still a chance' healthy teens could be vaccinated

There is "absolutely still a chance" that healthy children aged 12 to15 will get Covid-19 vaccines, Scotland's national clinical director has said.

The UK's vaccine advisory body refused to green-light the move, but said wider issues could be considered.

These include the impact on education and protecting the whole population.

Prof Jason Leitch told the BBC the age group could be vaccinated in "the near future", pending advice from the UK's four chief medical officers.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said it would widen the rollout to more children who have underlying health conditions.

Prof Leitch called their position towards vaccinating the rest of teenagers "fairly neutral".

Schools returning

Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland's Drivetime programme, he said: "They haven't come down and said do or don't do it - they said we're not recommending it yet - we're going to keep looking.

"The health ministers have written to CMOs and said could you give us advice in the round - not just about the individual risk per kid, but also look at the educational environment, the time off school, the safety of schools.

"There absolutely could be a decision to roll out vaccination for 12 to 15-year-olds. The final decision will be with ministers and I would have thought that would be a four-country decision."

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Scotland's health secretary Humza Yousaf confirmed the chief medical officer had been asked the explore whether there was additional evidence to support vaccinating younger teenagers "as soon as possible".

He said: "A further update will be issued once these discussions have taken place.

"In the meantime, we will offer the vaccine to those children and young people currently recommended."

Scottish schools returned two weeks ago and the decision of the JCVI had been much anticipated over the summer, with many hoping it would come in time to get pupils vaccinated before the new term.

Many countries, including the Netherlands, have started vaccinating teenagers down to the age of 12

On Friday, it was confirmed the coronavirus infection rate in Scotland had risen to its highest level since estimates began.

One in 75 people are believed to have had the Covid-19 virus last week, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The reopening of schools is believed to have contributed to a surge in cases.

However, the JCVI's decision focused squarely on the benefits of vaccination to children themselves - not on how it helps other people.

Children's risk from Covid is not zero but the chances of them becoming seriously ill from the virus are small. Deaths among healthy children are extremely rare - most of those who have died had life-limiting health conditions.

That means there needs to be a clear and obvious advantage to giving them a jab.

'Look at global evidence'

Many countries have already started vaccinating all teenagers down to the age of 12, including the US, France, Italy, The Netherlands and Ireland.

And the Scottish government had previously said it would be "ready to go" as soon as the experts gave the go-ahead.

Prof Leitch said: "One of the challenges throughout this whole pandemic is we've had to play the science out in real time. This has been so huge and affects so many people that we do the science live on the telly or radio.

"The group will look at global evidence - but there's no risk-free route here. You do have to think about it very, very carefully."

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