Every child in the UK could be offered a Covid jab by the end of the year, vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi suggested today.
No10 is set to unveil plans to immunise Britons aged 12 to 16 who have underlying health conditions or live with a vulnerable family member.
The plans will also see 17-year-olds who are months away from their 18th birthdays offered a vaccine.
But ministers will stop short of opening the rollout up to all healthy youngsters until more safety data is collected in places like the US, where it is already happening.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation — which advises No10 on the inoculation drive — will also review data from ongoing trials of Pfizer's jab in children as young as two.
Mr Zahawi said the Government had niggling concerns about the 'very rare' cases of heart inflammation in some young people given the Pfizer and Moderna jabs.
It comes as all Covid restrictions are lifted in England today, though Boris Johnson has urged caution as the outbreak across the country is spurred on by the more contagious Indian 'Delta' variant.
He will be spending Freedom Day in isolation — along with Chancellor Rishi Sunak — because they were both identified as close contacts of Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who tested positive for the virus at the weekend.
Vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi said the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) are still reviewing whether all children should be given the vaccine, while the Daily Telegraph said the committee is 'leaving the door open' for the move
Experts in the UK are waiting for the results from clinical trials and from countries like the US who are already vaccinating children, before deciding whether to follow suit
Vaccinating children against Covid remains a contentious topic because most youngsters are at such low risk from the virus itself and the jabs carry a tiny risk of serious side effects.
Immunising youngsters would purely be to protect the adult population and keep schools open.
Almost 750,000 children had to self-isolate last week because they came into contact with a possible Covid case.
The JCVI is expected to advise the Government to only jab children between 12 and 16 who have underlying conditions themselves or live with someone who does, as well as 17-year-olds within three months of their next birthday.
The committee is waiting for evidence from children receiving both doses in the US and in trials before recommending all healthy children be injected.
