The growing debate over vaccinating children

Should we vaccinate children against Covid-19? The question is going to be increasingly asked following positive results from a US trial of the Pfizer vaccine in 12 to 15-year-olds. The trial found the vaccine to have a 100 per cent efficacy in preventing symptomatic illness — higher than on older age groups. It was, however, based on a relatively small number of participants. The trial included 2,260 children, half of whom were given the vaccine and half of whom were given a placebo. Among the control group, 18 went on to develop Covid, compared with none in the group given the vaccine. The company announced yesterday that the vaccine had been ‘well tolerated’ among the group. Pfizer has yet to announce the results of trials in three further age groups: five to 11 year olds, two to five year olds and babies aged six months to two years. We have also yet to hear from AstraZeneca trials involving 300 six to 17 year olds, announced in February.

The government currently has a policy of inoculating only the over-18s, although it was reported in the Daily Telegraph last week that ministers have been considering plans to extend vaccination to schoolchildren from August onwards. However,