‘Vax not recommended for 12-15 yr olds in UK’

Representation pic

The UK government's independent advisory body on vaccines said on Friday it would not recommend jabbing all 12- to 15-year-olds against Coronavirus, arguing the benefits were "too small".

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), a panel of experts which advises ministers, has been weighing the issue after numerous other countries began giving the jabs to young teens.

It has previously recommended giving approved COVID-19 vaccines to all 16- and 17-year-olds, but only to 12- to 15-year-olds who have underlying health conditions that make them more vulnerable.

On the advice of the JCVI, Britain's four chief medical officers - in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - will now provide further input ahead of a final government decision. The committee, which focuses purely on health effects, wants them to consider the "wider societal impacts, including educational benefits" of whether to roll out vaccines to younger teens.

In its recommendation, the JCVI argued the benefits from vaccination are "marginally greater than the potential known harms" of the inoculations, while acknowledging there was "considerable uncertainty" about those.

NZ reports first Delta variant death

New Zealand reported the first death in the latest COVID-19 Delta variant outbreak in the local community, the Ministry of Health said in a statement on Saturday. In addition, 20 new community cases were reported in Auckland on Saturday. The victim, who was an Auckland woman in her 90s, had a number of underlying health conditions.

22,07,72,217
TOTAL Number OF CORONAVIRUS

CASES IN THE WORLD

45,70,227
Number OF DEATHS WORLDWIDE

19,73,28,899
Number OF RECOVERED PATIENTS

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