Experts urge to address poor Covid vaccine access for children

EXPERTS have raised concerns around access to Covid jabs for young children as a school-based programme is not likely to be the primary route in England, according to a media report.  

The Guardian reported that the jabs for kids will be offered from April at pharmacies, vaccination centres and, where appropriate, at GP surgeries.

“In principle school programmes would represent an excellent opportunity to reach the target group, but I am not sure how comfortable, especially the younger children – and their parents – would be to receive an injection without (a) parent being present, and this needs to be explored with families,” Beate Kampmann, professor of paediatric infection and immunity, and director of the vaccine centre at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, told The Guardian.

Dr Simon Williams, a behavioural scientist at Swansea University, said he supported plans not to offer Covid vaccinations to five- to 11-year-olds in schools.

A recent survey from the Office for National Statistics found only six in 10 parents of children in that age bracket said they were likely to have their child vaccinated.

“The downside to it being offered through schools is that some parents might feel like this puts undue pressure on their decision, or might feel that it is less optional that way,” he was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) itself has noted that offering vaccines to children at school has previously been associated with “higher levels of vaccine coverage with less inequality as measured by ethnicity and indices of deprivation”.

Williams suggested that making the vaccination appointments easy to book and making sure there are enough opportunities, including local and mobile sites and walk-ins, will help.

Dr Helen Salisbury, a GP in Oxford and a member of the Independent Sage committee, told The Guardian: “If we hope to make vaccines easily accessible to all families who want them, it makes sense to do the vaccination in schools which is where the children already are. The school health service would need extra support to do so given vaccine programmes for older children need to continue at the same time."

“The further option of mass vaccination centres is likely to limit the vaccination uptake to the most motivated families who also have access to transport, and is likely to widen inequalities,” she said.