Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government plans to offer the covid-19 vaccine to children under 16 years old; and whether he plans to prioritise young people who are clinically extremely vulnerable, such as those with cystic fibrosis and other serious lung conditions.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation currently advises that only those children at very high risk of exposure and serious outcomes, such as those aged 16 years old and over with a chronic respiratory disease such as cystic fibrosis, should be offered COVID-19 vaccination. Public Health England’s Green Book also sets out that children under 16 years of age, even if they are clinically extremely vulnerable with a condition such as cystic fibrosis, are at low risk of serious morbidity and mortality and given the absence of safety and efficacy data on COVID-19 vaccines, are not recommended for routine vaccination.