Chief medical officer to consider benefits of vaccinating young teens after JCVI update

Scotland’s chief medical officer Dr Gregor Smith has been tasked with looking more closely at the educational impact of the Covid-19 pandemic after the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommended against offering jabs to all 12 to 15-year olds.

The JCVI issued a statement today saying there is evidence that it would be marginally better to vaccinate youngsters than not. However, it added that the margin of benefit “is considered too small to support advice on a universal programme of vaccination of otherwise healthy 12 to 15-year-old children at this time”.

Last week First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said in the Scottish Government’s coronavirus briefing that she hoped the committee would “very, very soon recommend vaccination for all 12 to 17-year-olds”. National clinical director Professor Jason Leitch told the briefing that the vaccination programme was “ready to go” as soon as that advice came.

In its statement, the JCVI said its recommendation was based on looking only at the health benefits and risks of vaccination, meaning it had not considered wider societal impacts such as potential educational benefits.

“The [UK] government may wish to seek further views on the wider societal and educational impacts from the chief medical officers of the four nations, with representation from JCVI in these subsequent discussions,” it added.

Following the announcement, health secretary Humza Yousuf tweeted that he had spoken to his counterparts elsewhere in the UK, adding that “we have asked our respective CMOs to rapidly explore wider educational & societal impacts in relation to vaccinating 12-15yr olds – as per JCVI’s suggestion”.

In a statement, he said: “I want to thank the JCVI for today’s advice regarding vaccination for 12 -15 year olds.

“While the JCVI has agreed that the benefits marginally outweigh the risks, they are not yet prepared to recommend universal vaccination of 12-15 year olds, however, they have suggested that health ministers may wish to ask their respective CMOs to explore the issue further, taking into consideration broader educational and societal impacts.

“Therefore, I have agreed with the other three UK health ministers to write a letter asking the four chief medical officers to consider this latest guidance and explore whether there is additional evidence to suggest it would be beneficial to offer vaccination to all 12 – 15 year olds. We have asked for this further work to be conducted as soon as possible.”

Sturgeon tweeted that Smith had been asked to “offer further advice as quickly as possible”.

The JCVI has a statutory role in England and Wales. The governments of Scotland and Northern Ireland can choose whether to follow its advice or not.