Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
Scottish Government submission of 27 September 2021
PE1899/A - Conduct a risk benefit analysis prior to providing those under 16 with Covid-19 vaccination
I am writing in response to petition PE1899: Conduct a risk benefit analysis prior to providing those under 16 with Covid-19 vaccination.
After consideration, Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) from the 4 UK nations recommend all healthy children aged 12-15 should be offered one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. Those children already covered by JCVI advice who have specific underlying conditions or disabilities will be offered two doses, at the regular interval of 8 weeks apart.
UK CMOs looked at wider public health benefits and risks of universal vaccination in this age group to determine risks and benefits. Wider issues relevant to the public health of children and young people aged 12-15 years were considered, including education, operational and mental health issues. The recent JCVI advice focused only on public health benefits. Additional likely benefits from vaccination include reducing educational disruption, and consequent reduction in public health harm.
In reaching this decision, CMOs have been informed by the independent expertise of leaders of the clinical and public health profession from across the UK. This has included Presidents and Chairs or their representatives of Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Royal College of General Practice and Faculty of Public Health. On balance, these benefits provide sufficient extra advantage to recommend in favour of vaccinating this group. This is in addition to the marginal advantage at an individual level identified by the JCVI.
We are also currently offering a single dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to all those aged 16 and 17.
This offer comes in addition to the 16 & 17 year olds already eligible for two doses of the vaccine, including those with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of severe COVID-19; those who are household contacts of persons who are immunosuppressed; and 17-year-olds who are within three months of their 18th birthday.
In regards to a second dose for the wider 16 to 17 age group, we will be guided by the JCVI’s advice and await their further guidance on the risks and benefits associated with vaccinating young people in this cohort. For the time being, all 16 & 17-year-olds not belonging to the eligible groups described above are currently only eligible for a single dose of the vaccine.
The vaccination of this age group provides additional confidence in maximising protection across the whole population and in our country’s ability to slowly return to normality.