Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said:
Children are at very low risk of harm from Covid.
However, there are a very small number of children with health conditions which make them particularly vulnerable, and for those children we want to give parents the choice as to whether they wish to vaccinate their at risk child or not.
I have accepted advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation on vaccinating children aged from 6 months to 4 years who are in a clinical risk group. It is a parental decision, and this advice is simply to enable parents of children with medical conditions to choose if they wish to have the protection.
Notes to editors:
- The JCVI’s full advice can be found here: COVID-19 vaccination of children aged 6 months to 4 years: JCVI advice, 9 December 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)