London: The vaccine advisers in Britain are not recommending the inoculation of all 12 to 15-year-olds against COVID-19. They prefer a precautionary approach in healthy children because of a rare side effect of heart inflammation.
Following the advice, Britain could pursue a different approach to the United States, Israel and some European countries that have rolled out vaccinations to children more broadly.
The final decision regarding the matter has not been made as yet. The British government would consult medical advisers to look at other factors like disruption to schools.
On the other hand, several politicians and some scientists are in favour of vaccinating more children amid concern that COVID-19 could spread in schools that are reopening after summer holidays, further disrupting education, reported Reuters.
More than 133,000 COVID-19 deaths have been reported in Britain and nearly 7 million cases have been found. The fact that transmission among children can be high, they are rarely severely ill from the disease.
According to the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), children with underlying conditions that made them more at risk from COVID-19 should get vaccinated, the agency report said.
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