Nicola Sturgeon: Plans to give Covid vaccines to children being drawn up

Planning has started on a vaccine rollout programme for children aged 12 and over, Nicola Sturgeon said as she faced demands for children to get jabs before the new school year starts in August.

The First Minister said her government would act "as quickly as possible" on forthcoming advice from the UK's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on whether it should begin vaccinating children.

In a statement at Holyrood, Ms Sturgeon acknowledged that giving children Covid jabs could provide them with greater protection and minimise any further disruption to schooling.

However, she refused to guarantee that any rollout would be completed by the start of the new school year in August, noting that vaccine supplies "are not limitless".

Ms Sturgeon also pointed out that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the UK's medicines regulator, has so far only approved the Pfizer vaccine for use among 12 to 15-year-olds.

Pfizer said its trials had shown 100 per cent efficacy and a strong immune response in children between 12 and 15, and also suggested that the vaccine was safe with no unusual side-effects.

Its use among children in the UK was approved by the MHRA last Friday, with the regulator saying it had carried out a "rigorous review" which showed the vaccine was safe and effective in adolescents.

The JCVI must now advise governments on whether this age group should be vaccinated as part of the UK rollout.

Ms Sturgeon told MSPs: "Vaccination may well be an important way of giving children greater protection, minimising any further disruption to schooling and further reducing community transmission of the virus.

"And so I can confirm that if the JCVI recommends the use of the vaccine for children aged 12 and over, we will move as quickly as possible to implement the advice."

She later said: "In anticipation of the JCVI giving the go-ahead to vaccination of over-12s, we've already started that planning."

Ms Sturgeon said children with underlying health conditions may be vaccinated first but she could not yet provide a timescale for when pupils would get their jabs. However, she emphasised that the focus remained on vaccinating the adult population.

The First Minister's announcement came as she refused to reduce Covid restrictions in any part of Scotland, blaming a 50 per cent rise in cases over the past week due to the Indian variant.

Around three million people – more than half the population – will remain in Level 2 after she last week postponed the planned shift to Level 1.

The number of people in hospital on Tuesday dropped by one, to 121, while only 12 Scots remained in intensive care across the country. No more deaths were registered.

Douglas Ross, the Scottish Tory leader, challenged Ms Sturgeon over why 6,000 people can gather in a football fan zone in Glasgow for Euro 2020 matches while other Covid rules heavily restrict capacity at gatherings.

Mr Ross said the owners of soft play centres, who were protesting outside the Scottish parliament, deserved a better explanation of why they cannot open in Level 2 areas and argued parents should be allowed to attend "graduation" ceremonies for nursery children.

The National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) urged SNP ministers to reconsider the latter ban, arguing the ceremonies were "enjoyable and important events for children who have missed out on so much over the last 18 months".

Mr Ross said it was "very encouraging" young people may soon be vaccinated but added that "the First Minister's statement was telling for what it missed out and who it ignored".

He said: "It had nothing, not a single shred of new information, for soft play centres, hospitality businesses, couples waiting to get married or parents hoping to see their young children graduate from nursery.

"The First Minister said herself that there are 'apparent anomalies' in the rules – but she didn't signal any intent to fix the deep frustrations those anomalies are causing."