Parents are demanding they are given the final say on whether their children are given a Covid vaccine at schools in the coming weeks.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson yesterday said parental consent would be needed for the rollout to be expanded to children aged 12 to 15.
But officials admitted teens could be given a jab without their parents giving the go-ahead — but claimed such a scenario would be extremely rare.
Campaign groups have hit back at the plans to push through the inoculation drive to school pupils, claiming children could be 'peer-pressured into inappropriate decisions'.
On Wednesday, NHS England bosses told trusts to be ready to expand the roll out in just two weeks' time as scientists warned the virus will 'rip through schools' unless pupils are immunised before the new term.
And official sources say Boris Johnson wants the NHS to 'crack on' with vaccinating children after becoming frustrated with the Joint Committe for Vaccination's (JCVI) — which advises Number 10 on jabs — delay in approving plans.
The controversy reached boiling point today when actor Laurence Fox said he would remove his and ex-wife actress Billie Piper's children from school if parental consent is not required for 카지노사이트 jabs.
Scientists were at war yesterday over whether to push ahead with the rollout, with experts claiming it may be better for children to catch Covid and recover to develop natural immunity than to be reliant on protection from vaccines, which studies suggest wanes in months.
Professor David Livermore, a medical microbiologist at the University of East Anglia, said told MailOnline natural infection could be a 'a better first step in the lifelong co-existence' with the virus than rolling out the jabs.
An Israeli study today suggested natural immunity from previous Covid infection may offer stronger protection against the Indian 'Delta' variant than immunity from full vaccination.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson (pictured) yesterday said parental consent would be needed for the rollout to be expanded to children aged 12 to 15. But officials admitted teens could be given a jab without their parents giving the go-ahead
Latest Public Health England data showed Covid cases are rising fastest among 10 to 19-year-olds (gre
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The second highest infection rate was in 20 to 29-year-olds (yellow line), but this had fallen compared to the previous week. Approving Covid vaccines for 12 to 15-year-olds will help curb the spread of the virus in the age group