Clearance for more under-18s to be inoculated against coronavirus is expected from the government’s official vaccination advisers “within the next few days”, Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon has said.
There has been increasing pressure from medical experts for teenagers to be given the chance to receive jabs, after the MHRA medicines regulator ruled in June that they are safe for use on over-12s.
But the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation last month announced that it was advising inoculation only for 12-17 year-olds with certain medical conditions, as well as those within three months of their 18th birthday.
In a statement to the Scottish Parliament today, Ms Sturgeon made clear that she is expecting clearance for jabs for further groups of teenagers within days.
She told MSPs that invitations for 12-17 year-olds with health conditions were now going out and first doses were expected to be offered to this group north of the border by the end of August.
And she added: “I can advise parliament that we are hoping to receive in the next few days updated advice from the JCVI on possible vaccination of others in the younger age groups.
“We stand ready to implement any recommendations as soon as possible.”
She said the Scottish authorities were also preparing to offer booster jabs to those already vaccinated during the autumn, if that is the JCVI’s recommendation.
