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CABINET’S BUST-UP OVER SLOW ROLLOUT

Desperate measure as 4 out of 5 in age group still haven’t been jabbed

By Anna Mikhailova and Stephen Adams

MINISTERS are considering writing to every 12- to 15-year-old in the country to urge them to get their Covid vaccine.

The letter would be signed by Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi in a bid to improve the slow jab rollout in schools.

So far only 19.8 per cent of that age group has been jabbed.

However, the move has sparked a row within Government over whether writing to children directly would be appropriate. Whitehall officials have raised concerns that the move would risk undermining parental consent.

Since the rollout was extended to all 12to 15-year-olds more than a month ago, MPs have warned that parents must be given a final say in whether their child

‘Always been a private choice between a child and parent’

should be vaccinated. Schools normally send forms to parents seeking permission for pupils to receive a jab.

However, children also have a say and in some cases can override their parents, although the Government has insisted this would only apply ‘very rarely’.

It comes as analysis for The Mail on Sunday shows only a third of 12- to 15year-olds will be jabbed by December if the rollout continues at the current pace.

Just 564,518 out of 2.8million 12- to 15year-olds in England had been vaccinated by last Friday – compared with nearly two thirds of 16- to 18-year-olds.

The jab rollout has averaged just 12,100 of such children a day in the past month.

Failing to significantly speed up kids’ jabs could leave the majority of children in that age group unprotected by Christmas because the vaccine takes 14 days to take full effect.

Last week, the Prime Minister held a meeting with Mr Zahawi, Health Secretary Sajid Javid and Chief of Staff Dan Rosenfield about how to speed up the rollout.

NHS bosses are also scrambling to use half term to vaccinate as many children as possible, with England’s top GP, Dr Nikki Kanani – medical director of primary care for NHS England – making a plea to parents to book their children in by revealing her 13-year-old has received the jab.

Some 2.5million NHS letters – covering almost the entire age cohort of 12- to 15-year-olds in England – are being sent out from tomorrow to parents and guardians in a blitz aimed at increasing uptake.

It comes after the NHS’s national booking service for Covid jabs opened up for 12- to 15-year-olds.

Dr Kanani, who is also deputy lead for the Covid vaccination programme, said: ‘Millions of parents will be receiving letters from tomorrow inviting their children to get a Covid vaccine through the National Booking Service.

‘This provides an additional way for 12- to 15-year-olds to get their vaccine following the rollout in schools that has seen more than a half million vaccinated.’

She added: ‘The decision to get vaccinated has always been a private choice between a child and their parent or guardian – my 13year-old son received his vaccine at school on the same day I had my booster dose in a local pharmacy.

‘I would urge families to look at the information together and then book in to give children and their loved ones crucial protection ahead of winter.’ Parents whose children have had the jab will also receive the letter, as it is part of a mass mailing. The NHS says to ignore it.

The sluggish nature of the campaign contrasts sharply with the situation in Scotland.

When the decision to vaccinate 12- to 15-year-olds was made on September 20, rates were similar

in both countries – with 5.7 per cent of that age group jabbed in England, and 5.4 per cent in Scotland.

These youngsters had already been vaccinated because they are clinically vulnerable, or live with someone who is, meaning they fall into a higher priority group.

But in the month since then, Scotland has stormed ahead, having jabbed more than 50 per cent of its 12- to 15-year-olds – a vaccination rate of 3,640 children a day.

Over the same period, England has only managed to shift the dial to just under 20 per cent.

The contrasting campaigns may have contributed to the divergence in Covid case rates in under-15s since early September, when they stood at about 400 a week per 100,000 in both England and Scotland. In England, they have since shot up to more than 800 per 100,000, while in Scotland they have dropped to below 200.

Experts are worried that higher Covid case rates are starting to spill over into older age groups as children bring the virus home to parents and grandparents.

They believe that vaccinating secondary-school pupils is key to controlling the virus this winter, as Covid rates are currently at their highest in teenagers.

A recent modelling study calculated that jabbing all 12- to 15-yearolds could prevent tens of thousands of hospital admissions, mainly of older people, saving thousands of lives. If most of this age group remains unvaccinated, however, these benefits will not materialise.

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2021-10-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-10-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

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