Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

POLL: Should Scotland vaccinate children under five?

A young boy about to receive a PFizer Covid-19 vaccine. Vaccinating children under five could soon become a reality in the US.
The US could begin vaccinating children under five within the month, pending an emergency use application.

With the US on the verge of vaccinating children under five, should Scotland follow the same route?

This week, Pfizer and its German pharmaceutical partner BioNTech asked US officials to authorize emergency use of their Covid-19 vaccine for children aged six months to five years.

The answer could come before the end of February.

In the UK, the JCVI currently recommends two smaller doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for vulnerable children in the five-12 age range.

The latest NHS inform guidance does not include any additional guidance for younger children.

But do you think it’s time for Scotland to consider making the vaccine available to all ages? Let us know in our poll below.

What is the current situation?

A breakdown of recent Covid-19 case numbers by age group in Scotland shows children under the age of 15 contracting more cases than older kids.

The last death recorded among children in the under-14 age range was in March 2021.

In its most recent update last December, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation recommended new advice for children ages five-11.

Any children in this age group “in a clinical risk group or who are a household contact of someone who is immunosuppressed” can get two small doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

The JCVI has based the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine partly on clinical trials and partly on data from the US. Children ages five-11 are the youngest mentioned in current JCVI and NHS inform guidance.

What could change in the US?

This week, Pfizer-BioNTech took a step towards offering the vaccine to the last unvaccinated age group.

Although they are still gathering data, Pfizer-BioNTech applied this week for emergency-use authorisation from the Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA votes on the issue on February 15. If they approve the emergency use, then another agency needs to sign off before it becomes available to the public.

And if officials approve the emergency use, the vaccine could be available to young children by March.

Is it time for Scotland to start considering vaccinating the very young?

Although NHS inform reports that Covid-19 typically causes minor illness in children, the vaccine rollout has continued to expand in order to slow the spread in communities.

Do you think Scotland should consider vaccinating the youngest?

Read more from the Schools & Family team

Covid in schools: New absence rates show another turn

‘We want school to be fun again’: A day in a teacher’s life during a pandemic

Are French and German disappearing from our schools?