King’s Parade protest opposes Covid-19 passports and vaccinating children

The protesters gathered at 1.30 pm yesterday (11/09), ahead of the government’s announcement next week on whether to vaccinate 12 to 15 year olds

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has discouraged the use of vaccines for healthy children aged 12-15CDC/UNSPLASH

by Ryan Coppack

This article is 4 years old

Sunday September 12 2021, 4:37pm

Demonstrators gathered on King’s Parade yesterday (11/09) to protest against Covid-19 passports and vaccinations for children.

Photos from Cambridgeshire Live show protesters gathering outside King’s College, with some placards reading “still in trial phase”, “no Covid vaccines for any of our children!”, and “Make Orwell Fiction Again”.

The demonstration, which formed at around 1.30pm, took place in light of recent debates over vaccines for children.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has discouraged the use of vaccines for healthy children aged 12-15, stating that the “margin of benefit is considered too small to support universal vaccination of healthy 12 to 15 year olds at this time.”

Currently, children aged 12-17 are eligible for two doses of the vaccine if they are at “increased risk from infection”.

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Next week, Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty is expected to announce whether the NHS will be vaccinating 12 to 15 year olds, with much speculation that they will be going ahead.

At present, young people aged 16 and 17 are being offered a first dose of the vaccine, with the intention that a second dose will be available at a later date.

The vaccine currently being administered for under-18s is the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, but the Moderna jab has also been approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulation Agency (MHRA).

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