Backbench Rebellion Brewing Over Plans to Vaccinate Kids
By Toby Young
Ministers faced a backbench rebellion on Friday night over plans to vaccine healthy 12-15 year-olds after 26 Tory MPs warned the Government that overruling expert advice risks “dissolving the bond of trust” between the public and the Government. The Telegraph has more.
In a letter to Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, MPs said that the Government’s willingness to “ignore” the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is a cause for “serious concern”.
Their intervention comes as Prof Chris Whitty, England’s Chief Medical Officer, prepares to advise ministers on whether there is a wider benefit to society from vaccinating children.
In the letter, MPs pointed out that a “large part” of the UK’s inoculation programme success stems from the work of the JCVI which had “successfully determined the priorities for the vaccination rollout since January”.
They added: “As a result of their leadership, the UK has one of the lowest levels of vaccine hesitancy in the world, and so far over 90 per cent of the adult population has felt enough trust in its analysis to confidently have at least one vaccine dose.
“Every step of the way, from the first jab administered back in December, to three quarters of us now being fully vaccinated, the JCVI has brought the country along with it.”
Signatories of the letter include Esther McVey, the former secretary of state, Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 committee of backbench MPs, and William Wragg, the chairman of the public administration and constitutional affairs committee.
MPs said they are concerned that any attempt by the Government to “overrule” the advice now risks “dissolving the bond of trust that has grown between state and public”.
Last week, the JCVI delivered its long-awaited verdict, saying the “margin of benefit” of jabbing 12-15 year-olds was “considered too small” and citing the low risk to healthy children from the virus.
Worth reading in full.
Children Should Be Vaccinated to Benefit Their Mental Health, Chris Whitty to Say
By Michael Curzon
After months and months of recommending lockdown policies that damaged the mental health, education and social development of young people, Chris Whitty is now set to recommend that children aged 12 and over should be vaccinated against Covid “to benefit their mental health, education and social development”, according to the Times.
The Chief Medical Officer for England is set to conclude a review of medical evidence early next week, with ministers promising that the first younger teenagers will be jabbed within five working days. …
Whitty and his counterparts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are finalising a review into the wider benefits of child vaccination after the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation gave them responsibility for making a decision. [Or, rather, after the Government chose to ignore the JCVI.]
The committee concluded last week that although the benefits of vaccinating healthy children aged 12 to 15 slightly outweighed the risk, the balance in favour was too small to justify mass immunisation on health grounds alone. They said Whitty should be tasked with considering the broader benefits to children and his review has been holding discussions this week.
The Times understands that talks with senior doctors and other experts reached the conclusion that vaccination should go ahead.
The desire to stop children taking time off school sick, and to help them avoid worrying about the pandemic and learning to get on with their peer group were together judged to tip the balance in favour of vaccination.
Sources close to Whitty stressed that he was still holding discussions and was yet to finalise his recommendations, but the backing of his top advisers means that vaccination of children is in effect agreed.
Worth reading in full.
Teenage Boys Six Times More Likely to Suffer Heart Problems from Vaccine Than to Be Hospitalised from Covid, According to New Study
By Michael Curzon
As the Government tries to push on with the vaccination of healthy children against Covid, despite warnings from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), a major new U.S. study has found that teenage boys are six times more likely to suffer from heart problems due to the vaccine than to be hospitalised from Covid. This should force ministers to think twice. The Telegraph has the story.
Children who face the highest risk of a “cardiac adverse event” are boys aged between 12 and 15 following two doses of a vaccine, according to new research from the U.S.
The findings come as Professor Chris Whitty, England’s Chief Medical Officer, prepares to advise ministers on whether there is a wider benefit to society from vaccinating children.
Last week, the JCVI delivered its long-awaited verdict, saying the “margin of benefit” of jabbing 12 to 15 year-olds was “considered too small” and citing the low risk to healthy children from the virus.
However, Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, said he wanted Prof Whitty and the Chief Medical Officers from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to “consider the vaccination of 12 to 15 year-olds from a broader perspective”. …
Research published on Thursday will prompt fresh concerns about whether the risk of the vaccine outweighs the benefits for otherwise healthy children.
A team led by Dr. Tracy Hoeg at the University of California investigated the rate of cardiac myocarditis – heart inflammation – and chest pain in children aged 12-17 following their second dose of the vaccine.
They then compared this with the likelihood of children needing hospital treatment owing to Covid, at times of low, moderate and high rates of hospitalisation.
Researchers found that the risk of heart complications for boys aged 12-15 following the vaccine was 162.2 per million, which was the highest out of all the groups they looked at.
Evidence from studies show it is unlikely for boys to suffer either heart problems from the vaccine or be hospitalised by Covid.
The second highest rate was among boys aged 16-17 (94.0 per million) followed by girls aged 16-17 (13.4 per million) and girls aged 12-15 (13.0 per million).
Meanwhile, the risk of a healthy boy needing hospital treatment owing to Covid in the next 120 days is 26.7 per million. This means the risk they face from heart complications is 6.1 times higher than that of hospitalisation.
This is based on current rates of hospitalisations from Covid-19, which are judged to be “moderate”. During a period of low risk of hospitalisation, such as June 2021, the likelihood of heart complications rises to 22.8 times higher, and during a period of high risk, such as January 2021, the likelihood of heart complications is still 4.3 times higher.
The study, which has not yet been peer reviewed, analysed reports of adverse effects children have suffered from the vaccine between January and June of this year.
The study looked at MRNA vaccines – such as Pfizer and Moderna – which will be particularly relevant for Britain because youngsters will not be given the AstraZeneca jab because of the increased risk of dangerous blood clots.
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