Whitty also estimated that around 50% of children in the country have already had Covid-19
England’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, has said that it is “really quite inevitable” that children will contract coronavirus if they remain unvaccinated.
Addressing the Commons education committee, Whitty and deputy medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam were arguing why 12-15-year-olds should be next in line for the vaccine.
Whitty claimed that “virtually any child, unvaccinated, is likely to get an infection at some point between 12 and 15”. You can see Whitty explaining the rationale in the video below:
Prof Chris Whitty, England's chief medical officer, has told MPs there is a 'near certainty' that unvaccinated children aged 12-15 will get #COVID19 over autumn and winter.
Read more here: https://t.co/aFzV5ctRsm pic.twitter.com/ftqy2o0NeL
— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 22, 2021
As per multiple outlets, The Joint Committee on Vaccines and Immunisation (JCVI) believe that the benefits are too small due to children being at lower risk, but Vam-Tam insisted “lower does not mean anything close to zero”, especially given the highly transmissible nature of the Delta variant.
He went on to say, “We are not looking at a theoretical risk of children, 12 to 17, becoming infected. I think it is really quite inevitable that they will be at some point,” going on to add that it would be “extremely inconvenient” for children to be put at risk of respiratory problems and flu-like symptoms as they approach their GCSEs and A-levels.
Meanwhile, as you can hear in the above clip, Whitty explained that the comparison is not between “a child being vaccinated and nothing, you are comparing it against a near certainty that child will get Covid. Whitty also advised that as well as reducing the risk, fewer school days would be lost through those getting the jab than natural infection.
Whitty also estimated that 50 per cent of children in England have already had Covid – an approximation that still leaves many at risk.
At present, anyone over the age of 16 can get the vaccine and according to the latest Covid data, 89.5% have had the first dose, with 82% being double-jabbed.
Related links:
- Covid winter plan: Everything you need to know
- Chinese whistleblower claims first Covid outbreak was ‘intentional’
- Dad sacked his own son from family firm for refusing to get Covid jab
