Clinically vulnerable 13-year-old seeks Covid vaccine in Bucks
Her school is asking her to come back in September whether she has been vaccinated or not
The government has said that 16-17 year olds are now able to get their Covid vaccines.
There has been some confusion as to whether some clinically vulnerable children will also be eligible to get vaccinated.
A mother in Buckinghamshire is pushing to get her daughter who is classified as being vulnerable vaccinated, but has been met with struggles along the way.
Aged 13, the teenager suffers from an immune condition related to former cancer treatment.
They have been seeking the vaccination since the day the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency authorised the vaccine for ECV children.
The 13-year-old's GP is in agreement that the teenager is eligible but has not yet been given any information on how to book her in for a jab.
The teenager's school are now asking her to return in September whether she has been vaccinated or not.
Andrew Clark, Chair of Trustees of Buckinghamshire Disability Service (BuDS) said:
“We do have the ridiculous situation of our member who has a clinically vulnerable child who needs the vaccine to keep safe, and she has a non-clinically vulnerable 17-year-old who is probably at quite low risk from Covid and will get the vaccine long before the vulnerable child.
“The government are not rolling out the vaccine to the clinically vulnerable children who desperately need it, simply because of incompetence in government as far as we can see.
“The NHS have identified the children who need to be vaccinated but they’ve left it up to GPs to invite them to get their vaccination.”
According to the NHS, 12-15 year olds can be offered two jabs if they suffer from a specific health condition.
The NHS has said:
“As previously advised by JCVI, persons aged 12–15 years with specific underlying health conditions that put them at risk of severe COVID-19 should be offered two doses of Pfizer-BNT162b2 vaccine with an interval of eight weeks between doses.
“This currently includes children with severe neurodisabilities, Down’s Syndrome, underlying conditions resulting in immunosuppression, profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD), severe learning disabilities or who are on the learning disability register.”
The JCVI have released updated guidance on the vaccination of children and young people on 5 August.
If children aged between 12-15 are eligible for a Covid-19 vaccination and haven’t been contacted by their GP, Professor in Pharmaceutical medicine at King's College Penelope Ward has said there may be other people who can be contacted to get more information.
She said:
"Maybe discussing it with a member of parliament would be a good idea because the question about vaccine policy isn't just a scientific one, it's also strategic and population-based."
Professor Ward noted that there needs to be a valid reason as to why some children with medical conditions cannot be given Covid vaccines, and that information needs to be clear.
She stated:
"If members of parliament are aware that this is causing great concern in the community, the scientific community will be asked to categorically explain why one thing applies in one case and not in another."