British teens aged 16 and 17 SHOULD get their Covid jab to stop spread, experts say

TEENS aged 16 and 17 are next in line for their Covid vaccine in new plans laid out by the government.

At present only kids aged between 12-15 with serious health issues such as neurodisabilities are currently able to get the jab.

AlamyMore Brits are set to be given a Covid jab in the latest government push[/caption]

Other conditions that make kids eligible include Down syndrome, immunosuppression or profound and multiple or severe learning disabilities.

Teens over the age of 16 who live with adults who have a weakened immune system are also a priority.

Millions of vaccines have been administered across the UK as the country continues to fight infections caused by Covid-19.

So far over 46.8 million Brits have had a first dose of a Covid vaccine with a further 38.5 million having had a second.

This afternoon the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) revealed that 16 and 17 year olds would be offered the Pfizer/BioNTech jab.

The news that teens might be next in line for a vaccine comes as a study found having two vaccine doses makes people at least half as likely to catch it.

Plans for 16 and 17-year-olds comes amid growing fears of a fresh wave of Covid cases when kids go back to school and the weather gets worse.

It comes as:

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Professor Wei Shen Lim, Covid-19 Chair for JCVI, said: “After carefully considering the latest data, we advise that healthy 16- to 17-year-olds are offered a first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Advice on when to offer the second vaccine dose will come later.

“While Covid-19 is typically mild or asymptomatic in most young people, it can be very unpleasant for some and for this particular age group, we expect one dose of the vaccine to provide good protection against severe illness and hospitalisation.”

Ministers have been privately pushing for a jabs drive for those ages before they return.

One minister also suggested today that younger Brits could be paid to have their Covid vaccines.

Officials are searching for how best to persuade the 2.8million young Brits who haven’t come forward for their jabs to sign up.

Incentives could include free Uber rides and takeaways.

Ministers are concerned that currently, only around 67 per cent of people aged 18-29 in England have received the first dose of a vaccine.

While no jab is 100 per cent effective they have been proven to slash the risk of severe infection.

A new study found that double-jabbed people were estimated to have a 50 to 60 per cent reduced risk of infection compared to unvaccinated people.

The React-1 study by Imperial College London found 3.84 per cent who had recent contact with a known Covid case tested positive, compared to 7.23 per cent of unvaccinated. Those who were fully vaccinated are also less likely to pass on the virus to others.

Prof Paul Elliott, of ICL, said: “Both doses of a vaccine offer good protection against getting infected.

“However, there is still a small risk as no vaccine is 100 per cent effective, so we should still act with caution to help protect one another and curb the rate of ­infections.”