UK Government stops vaccinating 5-11 year olds

Covid vaccination was a one off-programme

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In February this year, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) in the UK) decided that children between the ages of five and 11 could be vaccinated with a Covid vaccine.

However, the wording of their documents made it sound like the decision was a difficult one and ultimately they weren’t that keen. They said it was a “non-urgent offer” and whilst some NHS Trusts tried to push the vaccine, uptake was low and quite quickly the pushing stopped.

In the UK, we have something called the Green Book which contains all the latest information on vaccines and vaccination procedures, for vaccine preventable infectious diseases in the UK.

Chapter 14a of the Green Book deals with Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination information for public health professionals.

In it’s latest update, on page 24, the Green Book discusses the aforementioned “one-off, non-urgent programme” of vaccinating five to 11 year olds. Again, the language used is very interesting and they are clearly trying to distance themselves from the decision and ensure there is no perceived pressure.

In the document it says:

This one-off programme applies to those aged 5 to 11 years, including those who turn five years of age before the end of August 2022. Subject to further clarification, on-going eligibility in 2022/23, after the one off-programme, is expected to be for children in the academic years where children are aged 11 or 12 years.

Apparently, vaccinating any child that now turns five ended in August without any announcements. Now that this one off-programme is ending, it seems that children will not be offered the Covid vaccination until they are 11 or 12.

There is uproar on Twitter from those who wanted to vaccinate their kids, with many angry parents saying their child’s second dose has now been cancelled. Included in this uproar was one lady who tweeted that her child had been jabbed once and then caught covid. The child was very unwell despite reports of it being mild but she’s gutted her child won’t get jab no 2.

It would be interesting to know the reasoning behind this decision although I’m guessing the official response will be that it was always meant to be a one-off programme.