Children under 4 to be offered Covid jab as thousands of new cases reported
Vulnerable children under the age of four will be offered the Covid jab, it has been announced.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised that children aged 6 months to 4 years in clinical risk groups should be offered the vaccine.
Four months ago, Britain's health regulator announced that it is authorising the Pfizer vaccine for infants within the same age group.
NHS England has confirmed that it will begin offering vaccinations to those eligible from mid-June. Two doses will be provided, with an interval of 8 to 12 weeks between each.
Parents are advised to wait to be contacted before coming forward.
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It follows estimated Covid cases reached their highest level since January 3 at the end of March in the UK, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
A health worker takes the temperature of a child ahead of giving a Pfizer/BioNTech Covid jab in Poland (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)In a statement today, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said: "Although young children are generally at low risk of developing severe illness from COVID-19, infants and young children who have underlying medical conditions are over seven times more likely to be admitted to Paediatric Intensive Care Units.
"Over one million children aged 6 months to 4 years in the US have received at least one dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine since June 2022.
"Data from the US showed the most common side effects reported were similar to those seen with other vaccines given in this age group, such as irritability or crying, sleepiness, and fever."
Currently, the JCVI does not advise giving the Covid vaccine to children aged 6 months to 4 years who are not in a clinical risk group.
Professor Wei Shen Lim, Chair of the JCVI’s COVID-19 Committee, said: “For the vast majority of infants and children, COVID-19 causes only mild symptoms, or sometimes no symptoms.
"However, for a small group of children with pre-existing health conditions it can lead to more serious illness, and for them, vaccination is the best way to increase their protection.”
Dr Mary Ramsay, Head of Immunisation at the UK Health Security Agency, added: "COVID-19 is still in circulation, with thousands of new cases reported every week.
"The extra protection offered by the vaccine could be important for young children in clinical risk groups, who are at greater risk of severe illness.
NHS England has confirmed that it will begin offering vaccinations to those eligible from mid-June (Getty Images/Image Source)"The virus is not going away so I would encourage all parents to bring their child forward if they are eligible. Parents should wait to be contacted by their local health professionals."
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The comments come as the World Health Organization (WHO) focuses in on a new Omicron variant XBB.1.16 that has been dubbed “Arcturus”.
Up until now the Kraken XBB.1.5 strain has been dominant but now the new variant is spreading in 22 countries and is more infectious, said Maria van Kerkhove, the WHO’s Covid technical lead.
But while it spreading more easily, there is no evidence to show it leads to more severe illness.
aria van Kerkhove, the WHO’s Covid technical lead, told a press conference: One of the variants that we are looking at, and I think you specifically mentioned India, is a variant that we have under monitoring. This is the XBB.1.16.
"It’s actually very similar in profile to XBB.1.5. It has one additional mutation in the spike protein which in lab studies shows increase infectivity, as well as potential increased pathogenicity.
"So, it’s one that we are monitoring (...) because it has potential changes that we need to keep a good eye out on.
"At the present time there’s only about 800 sequences of XBB.1.16 from 22 countries. Most of the sequences are from India and in India XBB.1.16 has replaced the other variants that are in circulation. So, this is one to watch. It has been in circulation for a few months."
Meanwhile, millions of Brits have been given access to another Covid booster jab.
People are now able to book a jab online with the first appointments available from April 17. Some five million will be entitled to the top up vaccine until the end of June.
This includes those aged 75 and over as well as people with an immunosuppressed condition aged five and over.
Steve Russell, NHS director of vaccinations and screening, commented: "As a society we are learning to live with Covid.
"But, for many, it is still a virus that can cause serious illness and hospitalisation, and so it is still really important that those at greatest risk come forward and boost their protection in the coming weeks."
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