ONLY clinically vulnerable children and those living with vulnerable adults will be soon offered Covid vaccinations, the vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi has said on Monday (19), as he urged people to be extremely cautious as almost all lockdown rules ended in England.
Speaking to Sky News, Zahawi said he will be making a statement to the Commons later based on the advice from the government’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) about Covid vaccines for children aged 12 and above.
“But suffice to say they have looked very closely, especially at children who are more vulnerable to serious infection from Covid, children who live with adults who are more vulnerable to serious infection from Covid and, of course, 17-year-olds who are close to becoming 18 – so three months from their 18th birthday – and we will take that advice before I make a statement to Parliament later today,” Zahawi said.
Saying that the government as of now is not planning to jab all under-18s, Zahawi said that the government will wait for reports from the USA once children there have had both their shots.
“The JCVI are continuing to review that. There is new emerging data of children vaccinated in America and elsewhere with a first dose, not yet enough data with a second dose, so they want to look at all the data,” said the vaccine minister.
Since England’s medical safety watchdog has given green light for teenage jabs last month, prime minister Boris Johnson is reportedly coming under mounting pressure to offer under-18s protection as the Delta variant is now seen spreading through younger age groups.
Zahawi also insisted he is “confident” the government was doing the “right thing” by ending the vast majority of Covid restrictions despite surging infections and a stark warning from international scientists though he stressed that he will continue to wear a face covering in crowded indoor public areas.
His remarks came as the government allowed nightclubs to reopen for the first time in 16 months, scrapped social distancing guidelines and removed limits on indoors gatherings in the final stage of the roadmap.
Damian Talbot
Nirmala Sitharaman speaks at the India-UK Investor Roundtable in London last Wednesday (9). On the panel were India’s department of economic affairs secretary Ajay Seth and Kotak Mahindra Bank founder Uday Kotak
Sitharaman with Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves
Sitharaman with Jonathan Reynolds 
Sitharaman with Reynolds, Alastair King, India’s high commissioner Vikram Doraiswami and other delegates