Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Tuesday, Sep 16, 2025

Only 7% of 5-11s in England have had Covid jab as parents hesitate

Only 7% of 5-11s in England have had Covid jab as parents hesitate

Six weeks after start of vaccine rollout, fraction of young children have had first dose as parents question usefulness
Only 7% of primary schoolchildren in England have received a first dose of Covid vaccine six weeks after it was rolled out to all 5- to 11-year-olds, as parents grapple with the decision about whether to take up the offer.

That rate compares with 24% of 12- to 15-year-olds who had received a first dose in the first six weeks after they became eligible in September 2021.

Scientists say the lower take-up among primary schoolchildren is due to a perception that Covid poses little risk to younger children.

Some parents have been concerned about the risk of rare side-effects from the vaccine. But according to Professor Russell Viner of University College London, who was part of the now-disbanded Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, they should be reassured by the near absence of side-effects after widespread take-up in the US, which approved the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine last November.

“It’s a vaccination that probably isn’t particularly beneficial for this age group,” Viner said. “However, it has a very, very good safety profile. And given that we remain in a pandemic, there’s an argument that for individual parents, the balance of risks would appear to be towards vaccination.”

Viner said he was most concerned that children in vulnerable groups received the vaccine. “The benefits for the whole healthy population [of 5- to 11-year-olds] are particularly around a reduction in school disruption, and the prevention of onward transmission to others,” he said. “However, for Omicron, the vaccines are pretty poor at preventing onward transmission. So I think the benefits of vaccination for this age group are very marginal. But that’s different for those who are highly clinically vulnerable. They are vulnerable to any respiratory virus and Covid is more serious than others.”

The area with the largest vaccine take-up for 5- to 11-year-olds was Oxfordshire, with 12%, while Knowsley in Merseyside had the fewest, with 3%, according to the latest NHS vaccine data up to 8 May.

“All the data on vaccine uptake shows very significant inequalities,” Viner said. “So it will be those children who are in the more clinically vulnerable groups from the more deprived parts of the population who I would be most worried about.”

Dr Peter English, a retired consultant in communicable disease control and former chair of the BMA Public Health Medicine Committee, said that parents should be aware that a significant proportion of children go on to develop long Covid. “Some will sustain damage to their organs or immune system that could leave them still unwell months or years after infection.”

He said it was unclear whether vaccination would protect children from long Covid, although it may do so because vaccination reduces the risk of severe disease and therefore reduces rates of organ damage.

Emma Amoscato and her family discussed vaccinations for some time before pressing ahead with getting doses for her two children, aged 9 and 6.

“We had a conversation – ‘would we, wouldn’t we’ – when America started offering jabs,” said Amoscato, who is the founder of the Smile mental health app. “Is the risk to the children that great, should we be putting something in their bodies?

“In the end, it made sense to do it. We’re both triple vaccinated. My husband is clinically vulnerable. And it wasn’t the risk to life – it was the risk to the children of developing long Covid and what that would mean for them, living with a long-term chronic illness.”

Chloe Haywood, a designer in Somerset, decided to get the vaccine for her three sons, aged 11, 8 and 5, after the household had fallen ill with Covid. “They all had jabs when they were babies,” she said. “It was more a question of how fast we could get them booked in.”

Some parents had been concerned about the risk of long Covid before the latest rollout, and attempted to have their children vaccinated overseas.

An NHS spokesperson said: “Getting vaccinated is a personal choice between families and their children, and we have now sent invites to everyone eligible, providing parents with information to allow them to make an informed decision, while they can also talk to their doctor or a local healthcare professional if they have questions.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
×