It is now up to the JCVI to advise the UK government on whether or not children within this age group should be given the Moderna vaccination.
The UK health regulator has approved the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for 12 to 17-year-olds.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has said that it is now up to the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to advise the UK government on whether or not children within this age group should be given the vaccine.
Dr June Raine, MHRA chief executive, said: “I am pleased to confirm that that the COVID-19 vaccine made by Moderna has now been authorised in 12 to 17-year-olds. The vaccine is safe and effective in this age group.
“We have in place a comprehensive safety surveillance strategy for monitoring the safety of all UK-approved COVID-19 vaccines and this surveillance will include the 12 to 17-year age group.
This comes after New Zealand will go into a national lockdown for three days from Wednesday after the country has recorded its first coronavirus case in six months. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said that the nation would be put under strict lockdown after one case of COVID-19 was reported in Auckland.
Dr Raine continued by saying:
“It is for the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to advise on whether this age group should be vaccinated with the Covid-19 vaccine made by Moderna as part of the deployment programme.”
All teenagers who are aged 16 and 17 in the UK are to be offered a coronavirus vaccine by the 23rd of August.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the target date will allow the nation’s 1.4 million teenagers to get “vital protection” before they return to sixth form or college two weeks later in September.
The vaccine is already available to children who are aged 12 and over if their health leaves them at a higher risk from the coronavirus, or if they live with an immunosuppressed person.
According to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), children in this group will be invited for their vaccine by the 23rd of August.
The DHSC has said that some 100,000 text messages will also be sent to teenagers within three months of them turning 18, inviting them to book their appointment for the coronavirus vaccine online through the National Booking Service or by calling 119.
This comes after halfway through the Summer Olympics in Japan, coronavirus cases are surging in the nation during a state of emergency, although the outbreak is nowhere near as severe as other places as the world deal with a more contagious Delta variant.
On the Moderna vaccine being approved, a spokesperson for the department said: “We welcome the news that Moderna’s vaccine has been approved as safe and effective for people aged 12 and over.
“As has been the case with all other approvals, we will now be guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and have asked for its formal recommendation on whether to administer this vaccine to people aged 12 to 17.”
Moderna is already authorised for children aged 12-17 years in Northern Ireland.
It was recommended for use in adolescents by European regulators in July and is awaiting US authorisation.
