Ministers are looking into writing every 12- to 15-year old in the country to urge them for their Covid vaccination.
In an effort to improve the slow rollout of jabs in schools, Education Secretary Nadhim Zhawi would sign the letter.
Only 19.8% of this age group has been jabbed so far.
However, there has been some controversy within Government about whether writing directly to children is appropriate.
In an effort to improve the slow rollout of jabs in schools, Education Secretary Nadhim Zhawi would sign the letter.
Whitehall officials raised concerns about the possibility of parental consent being compromised by the move.
MPs have warned parents that they must have final say on whether their child should get vaccinated since the rollout was extended to all 12- and 15-year-olds over a month ago.
Parents usually send forms to schools asking permission for their children to have a jab.
However, children also have a say and in some cases can override their parents, although the Government has insisted this would only apply ‘very rarely’.
It comes as The Mail analyses on Sunday show that only a third (or less) of 12- and 15-year-olds will be jabbered by December if the rollout proceeds at the current pace.
Just 564,518 out of 2.8 million 12- to 15-year-olds in England had been vaccinated by last Friday – compared with nearly two thirds of 16- to 18-year-olds.
In the last month, the jab rollout averaged 12,100 such children per day.
Failing to significantly speed up kids’ jabs could leave the majority of children in that age group unprotected by Christmas because the vaccine takes 14 days to take full effect.
Last week, Prime Minister Zahawi met with Sajid Javid, Health Secretary, and Chief of Staff Dan Rosenfield to discuss how to speed up the rollout.
NHS bosses are also scrambling to use half term to vaccinate as many children as possible, with England’s top GP, Dr Nikki Kanani – medical director of primary care for NHS England – making a plea to parents to book their children in by revealing her 13-year-old has received the jab.
Some 2.5 million NHS letters – covering almost the entire age cohort of 12- to 15-year-olds in England – are being sent out from tomorrow to parents and guardians in a blitz aimed at increasing uptake.
It comes after the NHS’s national booking service for Covid jabs opened up for 12- to 15-year-olds.
Dr Kanani, who is also deputy lead for the Covid vaccination programme, said: ‘Millions of parents will be receiving letters from tomorrow inviting their children to get a Covid vaccine through the National Booking Service.
‘This provides an additional way for 12- to 15-year-olds to get their vaccine following the rollout in schools that has seen more than a half million vaccinated.’
She added: ‘The decision to get vaccinated has always been a private choice between a child and their parent or guardian – my 13-year-old son received his vaccine at school on the same day I had my booster dose in a local pharmacy.
‘I would urge families to look at the information together and then book in to give children and their loved ones crucial protection ahead of winter.’ Parents whose children have had the jab will also receive the letter, as it is part of a mass mailing. The NHS advises that you ignore it.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Secretary of Education, Nadhim Zhawi visit Westbury-on-Trym Church of England Academy at Bristol
The campaign’s slow pace contrasts starkly with the Scottish situation.
When the decision to vaccinate 12- to 15-year-olds was made on September 20, rates were similar in both countries – with 5.7 per cent of that age group jabbed in England, and 5.4 per cent in Scotland.
These children had been vaccinated before they were clinically vulnerable or lived with someone who was, so they fall under a higher priority group.
But in the month since then, Scotland has stormed ahead, having jabbed more than 50 per cent of its 12- to 15-year-olds – a vaccination rate of 3,640 children a day.
England has managed to shift its dial to just below 20 percent in the same period.
The divergence of Covid case rates in under-15s may be due to the contrasting campaigns. In September, they were around 400 per 100,000 in England and Scotland. They have risen to over 800 in England since September, while they are now below 200 in Scotland.
Experts are concerned that the higher Covid cases rates are spreading to older age groups, as more children are bringing the virus home to their grandparents and parents.
They believe that secondary-school students should be vaccinated against the virus, as Covid rates are at their highest among teenagers.
A recent modeling study found that vaccinating all 12- and 15-year-olds could save thousands of lives by preventing hospital admissions. These benefits won’t materialize if the majority of this age group is not vaccinated.
How long can we continue to tolerate anti-vaxxers clogging the NHS?
By David Mellor
Unfortunately, Covid-19 is being supported by the pernicious antivaxxer movement. It’s filling up hospital beds as the latest month’s figures show that two-thirds of the under-50s admitted with the virus are unvaccinated.
The knock-on effect is that NHS is restricted from treating other critically ill patients with conditions like cancer.
As important as booster jabs may be, the priority still remains to reach the millions of adult citizens who refuse the vaccine.
These stories are not enough to stop anti-vaxxers from defying medical advice.
It is believed that half of professional footballers haven’t even had a first jab. Refusing the jab is not merely irrational, it’s taking a chance with your life. It’s a risk where lives are at stake.
There have been tragic examples – such as a 58-year-old Cambridge-educated lawyer who said he hoped he had got the virus because he’d prefer to have the antibodies in his blood than take the jab.
‘I’d rather take my chances with my immune system,’ he added. He did just that – and died.
Despite hearing such stories, anti-vaxxers persist in defying medical advice and commonsense.
This leads again to the question that won’t go away: how much longer can we tolerate seeing the NHS clogged up with people who get Covid really badly because they won’t be vaccinated? Is this a matter of individual choice? Or are the consequences for society too serious to overlook – particularly with the threat of a return of social restrictions for us all, and perhaps even another lockdown.
Being a Minister for eleven years, I know that there are difficult choices. It’s tempting to suggest that anti-vaxxers should be denied treatment, or treated only at their own expense. This has been seriously considered in Australia. But I doubt it would work there and certainly won’t work in the UK.
The choice is stark: a vaccine passport system – or disruption, misery and irreparable damage to millions of lives and to the economy
But a vaccine passport might. Why shouldn’t we ban those who refuse the vaccine from visiting places of entertainment or – as Italy has done – from going to work?
It’s not exaggerated to say that the anti-vaxxers’ actions can be compared to someone running on a street and stabbly hitting passers-by.
Unpalatable as many will find it, I am convinced that we must act, otherwise there’s a terrible danger we’ll be saddled with unmanageable Covid outbreaks for as far ahead as we can see.
The choice is stark: a vaccine passport system – or disruption, misery and irreparable damage to millions of lives and to the economy.
The gods will first make mad those whom they want to destroy. Ask any anti-vaxxer.
On Tuesday, a group of them were recorded yelling at Michael Gove while he walked along Westminster. Why?
To support the vaccination of people with Covid-19. This is a high-crime and serious offense.
Although this was undoubtedly a violation of public order, the police did not intervene in the incident (typical).
It didn’t seem to matter that it happened just a few days after the killing of his colleague Sir David Amess.
Gove was left to try his luck without knowing if they were going to shout at or if they were so mad by the internet that one or more would assault him.
Take a look online at the type of trash being promoted.
According to our sources, Covid was designed to control the population.
It was caused in part by the World Health Organisation, Big Pharma, and Bill Gates. It’s a side effect of 5G mobile telephone upgrades.
Oh, and did I mention that those disposable blue masks are infused with asbestos?
There are many crazy voices in the anti-vaxxer world.
Piers Corbyn, on the other hand, seems determined not to be more like his brother Jeremy.
Here’s the gospel according to Piers: ‘Bill Gates wants vaccinations to control you, and to control women’s fertility to reduce the world population.
‘That’s his game, and he’s going to get loads of money of it. You will pay with both your money and your entire life. We say “No”.’
Meanwhile, he distributes leaflets comparing the UK’s covid vaccine rollout to Auschwitz.
His Indian equivalent, Swami Chakrapani, claims you don’t need a vaccine because applying cow dung to your body will do the trick.
Perhaps coronavirus is better.
If you are confronted with such absurdity, it is possible to think that laughing and passing by the other side is the best thing.
I don’t agree. This stuff is pernicious. It is helping to sustain Covid-19, prolonging suffering and death.
It’s filling up hospital beds, thereby constraining the health service from treating patients desperately ill with other conditions like cancer – treatment put on hold during the pandemic with often devastating effects.
Let me give you a few statistics to help you focus your mind.
Four out of ten patients who are hospitalized with Covid-19 do not have their vaccines up to date.
Anti-vaxxers are three to one more likely to have their pensioners admitted to hospital with covid.
Initial results indicate that booster jabs work at 95 percent effectiveness. That’s why I’m having mine on Wednesday.
Professor Sir Andrew Pollard is the distinguished head the Oxford vaccine group that created the AstraZeneca jab. He points out that boosters are important but not the immediate priority. However, millions of supposedly adults who refuse to receive a life-saving injection are the priority.
Too many people are currently in intensive care.
In some parts of the country, as low as half of the critical second vaccine are being received.
It is thought that half of professional footballers haven’t even had a first jab.
Refusing the vaccine is not merely irrational, it’s taking a chance with your life. It is a risky gamble that could result in the loss of lives.
Leslie Lawrenson, a 58 year old Cambridge-educated lawyer, blogged: ‘I hope I’ve got it because I’d rather have the antibodies in my blood than take the jab…the potential dangers from taking these experimental jabs weren’t worth the risk. I’d rather take my chances with my immune system.’
He lost. His 11-year old son found him dead just a few days later.
Matthew Keenan was ‘a wholly confirmed vaccine sceptic’, when he fell desperately ill last July. He claimed that he could go back in time if he wanted to. But he couldn’t.
At only 34, this proud dad and fit football coach died unexpectedly. It was a terrible waste.
Throughout history tens of millions have died of diseases that wouldn’t kill them today because of vaccinations.
Two infants were buried in a quiet Dorset graveyard. My aunt and uncle, who both died from diphtheria during the 1920s, when it was one of the most devastating diseases of children, are buried in a quiet graveyard in Dorset. Diphtheria was known as ‘the silent strangler’ because of the awful manner of their death.
Today, most kids have never heard of diphtheria.
There’s a word for some people’s rejection of a life-saving jab, and that word is decadence.
I look back on six decades to Geoff Hall. He was a hero of mine as a child. This fullback from England, Birmingham City, was enjoying a tremendously successful career. Then, polio claimed his life.
Wouldn’t he have loved the opportunity to be vaccinated? One sadly didn’t emerge until a few years too late for him.
Children today don’t know anything about polio.
As for the anti-vaxxers: We can’t just turn them off, as much as I would love to.
I was on a tube railway a few months back when a loud entered the train. He began ripping down posters of covid and then, having dragged his ghetto blaster into a carriage, started playing anti-vax music and dancing around.
What was London Underground doing? Nothing.
So, again, the question that won’t go away: how much longer can we tolerate seeing the NHS bunged up with people who get covid really badly because they won’t be vaccinated?
Is this a matter of individual choice? Are the consequences for society too grave to ignore?
Ask those who aren’t receiving proper treatment for cancer.
Ask the people whose lives were thrown into chaos by the ongoing Covid meltdown.
The court system is now in chaos. All manner of cases – some say 60,000 – are held up, a lot of them really serious like murders and rapes.
What will be the consequences for justice when they finally are heard, if they ever are, and memories have dimmed.
All those empty public offices. The banks that won’t talk to you because everyone’s at home. Permanent closures have turned the tables on schools.
Today, we are seeing the return of restrictions and perhaps the abyssal of another lockdown.
After being a minister for eleven years, I know that there are many options.
Anti vaccination protesters march through Newcastle warning of the supposed dangers of COVID-19 vaccinations
It’s tempting to suggest that anti-vaxxers should be denied treatment, or treated only at their own expense. It’s been seriously suggested in Australia.
But I doubt it would work there and certainly won’t work here.
But a vaccine passport might. Why shouldn’t we ban those who refuse the vaccine from places of entertainment or – as Italy has done – from going to work?
It can be argued that requiring anti-vaxxers stay at home is necessary for public safety.
Let them make their own decision if they choose. But not in a way that is detrimental to you or me, or the wider public good.
The anti-vaxxers’ actions are, in their way, just as harmful to society than if they ran down a street and stabbed passers-by randomly.
Unpalatable as many will find it, I believe we have to act or there’s a terrible danger we’ll be saddled with unmanageable covid outbreaks for as far ahead as we can see.
All that chaos. All that misery. All the economic and business damage.
I’m not up for that.
So, why has our world-beating jab program hit the buffers?!
Jo Macfarlane
What’s going wrong with the booster programme?
It’s too slow. It’s too slow. The UK was the first to approve and deliver the first Covid jabs. However, only half of the eight millions currently eligible have received a boost since September 16, when the programme began.
Six months after their first jab, 30 million over-50s and people with underlying health issues will be eligible to receive a second dose. But at the current pace of 200,000 booster jabs a day – compared with 400,000 during the peak of the first drive – it will take until March to finish the job.
NHS England admitted it had only sent out 5.5 Million invitations, but promised to send another two million this week.
Are the people in charge to be held accountable?
There’s been a change at the top. The departure of those credited with the first rollout’s success – Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi and Kate Bingham, who led the Vaccines Taskforce – means it’s now in the hands of Maggie Throup, described as having ‘all the verve of cotton wool’.
NHS England admitted it had sent only 5.5 Million invitations and promised to send another two million this week.
It’s telling that the Government has brought back Emily Lawson, who ran the initial jab drive.
Is the public becoming complacent about Covid risk?
Only partially. Many people are unaware of the fact that protection deteriorates over time. This could explain why there is so little booster uptake.
The first vaccines were widely regarded as vital in saving lives and a way to get out of lockdown when they were released. Some experts believe that the benefits of a booster were less obvious.
Pharmacists in Manchester told the BBC they had capacity for ‘600 or 700’ jabs a day but only 100 takers. Surveys have shown that 82% would take an additional shot if offered. Many of those who are eligible have yet to be invited to book a jab.
Is the public confused about how to get the jab
People were advised to wait until the NHS announced the booster program before they were invited.
Ministers reversed course last week and told eligible people that they could book a jab online, via 119, or without an invitation. The confusion grew when the NHS booking site was not updated and said only those with invitations could book a jab. Today, anyone who is eligible can book their booster up to weeks before the due date.
Why can’t GPs give out the jabs?
Innoculations were administered by GPs in 75% of the first rollout. Many practices have decided to opt out of the second rollout, citing patient backlogs and the need to administer flu vaccine. Doctors were also asked to continue routine care, which they weren’t first time.
Can’t it be given with the flu jab?
Yes. Studies show it’s safe and they’re licensed to be given together. But there are practical constraints, including patients having to be monitored for 15 minutes after the jab, which GPs don’t have the capacity to deal with.
What’s happened to my local vaccine centre?
Many church halls or ‘pop-up’ vaccine clinics have been closed in favour of pharmacies and larger out-of-town venues. Doctors believe that access is a factor in reducing uptake. There are also fewer volunteers. But, statistics show that the number of vaccine centers has increased from 1,543 in February up to 2,205.
Is online reservation possible?
Yes, there were glitches. Some eligible people with invitations have been wrongly informed by the NHS booking website that they can’t yet book a jab. This has been rectified. Call 119 if this is still a problem.
The Government has committed 100 million doses of booster drugs to Third World countries. However, it says that this will not affect our booster program.
Is there a shortage in booster vaccines
No. No. New vaccines from Novavax and Valneva are also being ordered. Once approved, they will be available.
The Government has committed 100 million doses of booster drugs to Third World countries. However, this will not affect our booster program.
Is there a postcode lottery
Unfortunately, yes. Some areas have fewer vaccination clinics due to the fact that some GPs have chosen out. There is no data yet on which regions are performing best, but the Midlands has delivered over 800,000 jabs – 40 per cent more than in the South West and East of England. Uptake will also be affected by Vaccine Hesitancy. Only 50-60% of people who are fully vaccinated live in London’s areas with large black and South Asian populations.
‘Very calm, comforting and non-political figure’: Maggie Throup is the Vaccines Minister. Fans praise her for being a well-liked, ‘getting on with it’ person.
By Brendan Carlin
Tory MPs have vented their frustration at Boris Johnson’s decision to replace high-profile former Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi with little-known MP Maggie Throup.
They said it was ‘a mystery’ as to why the Prime Minister had picked the former Whip for the key role.
One senior Tory MP said: ‘This is causing major concerns.
An ally of Ms Throup said she had been a ‘grandma figure’ in the Whips’ Office, and was deployed to comfort unhappy MPs – skills which will be useful if complaints about the slow booster rollout continue to come in
‘Let’s face it – Nadhim had a touch of showbusiness about him. You just can’t say that about Maggie.’
Others, however, privately blame Chief Whip Mark Spencer who promoted Ms Throup from Tory Whips Office.
A former Minister told The Mail on Sunday: ‘I don’t think Boris would have had a clue who she was. The idea of promoting her must have come from the Chief Whip.’
Other MPs have sprung to Ms Throup’s defence, saying she was widely liked and had a reputation for ‘getting on with the job’. That diligence led one colleague to dub her ‘Super Throuper’.
Her science background is also expected to help her in the new job – Ms Throup, 64, read biology at university, before working as a biomedical scientist at Calderdale Health Authority and then at a pharmaceutical company.
An ally of Ms Throup said she had been a ‘grandma figure’ in the Whips’ Office, and was deployed to comfort unhappy MPs – skills which will be useful if complaints about the slow booster rollout continue to come in.
However, Erewash’s colleagues admitted that he had kept a low profile ever since he entered the Commons in 2015