Covid-19: At-risk children to be offered Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine

UK health secretary Sajid Javid said children who are at increased risk of COVID-19 will be offered Pfizer/BioNTech's vaccine on the NHS "as soon as possible," as are those who are immunocompromised, as reported in This is Money.

He said he had accepted the advice of the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which has ruled out mass vaccination of healthy children for now.

The move means thousands of children in the UK aged 12 to 15 with certain conditions can access the vaccine.

These include children with severe neuro-disabilities, Down's syndrome, immunosuppression, and multiple or severe learning disabilities. Other conditions, including type 1 diabetes, are not currently included in the list.

Under existing guidance, young people aged 16 to 17 with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious COVID-19 should have already been offered a jab.

Meanwhile, the JCVI has also said those aged 12 to 17 who live with an immunosuppressed person, such as a parent or grandparent, should be offered a COVID-19 vaccine.