ALL children aged 12 and over should be offered the vaccine, a group of scientists has urged, as they warned Gavin Williamson that allowing the mass infection of children would be “reckless.” 

In an open letter to the Education Secretary, published in the BMJ today, scientists, parents and educators warn that due to policies in England there will soon be a large “susceptible” population at the start of the school term with “hardly any mitigations.” 

It came as the joint committee on vaccination and immunisation (JCVI) ruled out mass vaccinations for children aged 12 to 15 on Friday, saying that there was not enough evidence of the health benefits to expanding the rollout to this group.