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There will be enough Pfizer jabs available to vaccinate all children over 12 against Covid, Matt Hancock says
- There will be enough Pfizer jabs to vaccinate children, Matt Hancock said
- A final decision on whether to vaccinate children is yet to be made
- There has been debate on the ethics of vaccinating youngsters, who mostly only suffer mild symptoms of Covid-19
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said there will be enough Pfizer jabs available to vaccinate children against Covid-19.
His comments on Monday suggest that there could be a drive to vaccinate teenagers in autumn.
Mr Hancock said that he was monitoring data on the Pfizer vaccine in children and a final decision would be made in the coming months.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said there will be enough Pfizer jabs available to vaccinate children against Covid-19
It comes as scientific advisors are yet to decide on whether children should be vaccinated against Covid-19.
There has been debate about whether vaccinating youngsters to prevent the spread of the virus among adults is ethical or justified.
Most children who contract the virus suffer only mild symptoms.
Further cases of the Indian coronavirus variant have been identified in the UK, with 86 local authorities now reporting five or more confirmed cases, ministers have said.
The Health Secretary told the House of Commons on Monday that while the B1617.2 variant seemed more transmissible, the evidence suggested vaccines were effective against it.
Mr Hancock said the variant had become the dominant strain in parts of the North West of England.
There has been debate about whether vaccinating youngsters to prevent the spread of the virus among adults is ethical or justified (Stock image)
A range of measures are being taken to tackle its spread, including accelerating second doses of vaccines for people over 50 and the clinically vulnerable, he added.
Mr Hancock told the Commons there were now 2,323 confirmed cases of B1617.2 in the UK – of which 483 were in Bolton and Blackburn with Darwen, where it is now the dominant strain.
He said cases there had doubled in the last week and were rising in all age groups.
Mr Hancock also told MPs there were 86 local authorities where there are five or more confirmed cases, with Bedford the ‘next biggest cause of concern’.
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