The Welsh government has become the first UK nation to announce it will offer Covid vaccinations to all five- to 11-year olds.
The Welsh health minister, Eluned Morgan, said she had seen unpublished advice from the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) that younger children should be jabbed.
The JCVI advised all four nations more than week ago that the vaccination programme should be expanded to younger children. But as the Guardian has reported, the UK government delayed announcing its decision.
Revealing that the Welsh government would nevertheless press ahead, Moran said it was “perplexing” that the JCVI advice had not yet been published.
She said: “The JCVI has yet to publish its report although there are lots of clues in the Guardian and other places where there seems to have been lots of leaks come out. It’s perplexing to know why that has not been published yet but I have seen a copy of that advice and we will be commencing with the vaccinations of five- to 11-year-olds.”
Speaking in the Welsh parliament, Morgan said: “Of course it’s likely to have been a very difficult decision for the JCVI because generally children have a milder illness and fewer hospitalisations but they have to balance that against the prospect of missing school. We have to consider very carefully different issues when it comes to vaccination of children as young as five.”
Morgan said children would be vaccinated in health settings rather than at school. She said she would expect children to be accompanied by an adult and informed consent would be needed. Siblings could be jabbed at the same time.
She said: “Whilst yet to be published officially by the JVCI, I have received JCVI advice regarding the vaccination of all five- to 11-year-olds and I have agreed with it”
The minister has not set out a timetable for when youngsters will be able to get the jab, and told Senedd members: “We’re not going to do that as a matter of urgency … partly because the risk isn’t as great to that cohort.”
The Welsh government has been much more cautious than the UK administration, imposing stricter restrictions for longer. Welsh ministers have also become increasingly angry at the UK making announcements on Covid, such as Boris Johnson revealing that the requirement to self-isolate is set to be scrapped, without warning the other UK nations first.
Plaid Cymru’s health spokesman, Rhun ap Iorwerth, said he was “aware of calls from parents, from staff in education, from health professionals and care workers to push this option of vaccination forward as soon as possible”.
This was because of “concern that the virus is spreading most among children and the impact that that has on family members who are unable to work and the impact that remains in terms of children’s education, where there they do lose large amounts of school time”, he added.
A low-dose version of the vaccine for younger children was approved for use in the UK in December.
In a written statement published on Tuesday evening, Morgan asked all families with children between the ages of five and 11, who are not in any clinical at risk groups, to visit the Public Health Wales website for information about vaccination and “to begin a conversation about whether they want to take up this offer”.
She said: “We will be publishing an update of our vaccination strategy next week, which will set out further detail about the offer, once the JCVI advice is published.”
A UK government spokesperson said: “No decisions have been made by ministers on the universal offer of a Covid-19 vaccine to all five- to 11-year-olds. We are committed to reviewing the JCVI’s advice as part of wider decision-making ahead of the publication of our long-term strategy for living with Covid-19.”