When Professor Chris Whitty told the nation on September 13 that 12 to 15-year-olds should “on balance” be vaccinated, it sparked mass confusion among parents.

Just 10 days earlier, The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) had ruled that the benefits were so marginal for schoolchildren that the jabs were not worth the risks.

The JCVI warned that a first dose of vaccine carried a risk of three to 17 cases per million of the rare heart condition myocarditis for a first dose. This rose to 12 to 34 per million for a second dose. 

Despite this, Prof Whitty and the other chief medical officers overruled the JCVI and went ahead with giving children the vaccine, but just one dose instead of the usual two. 

Recent analysis from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) now states the risk of myocarditis is just nine cases per million after both jabs. This newfound low level of risk likely played a role in the decision earlier this week to give 16 and 17-year-olds a second dose. 

However, while the Government tries to ramp up a vaccination campaign in children that appears to be showing signs of stalling, parents are likely to be more concerned than ever to learn that health officials are now saying children who have had a coronavirus infection should wait three months before getting a vaccine, to reduce myocarditis risk.

Change in guidance

Up to now, the recommendation was to only wait a month between infection and inoculation. 

The UKHSA said guidance had been updated as a result of emerging evidence showing a longer interval between infection and vaccination makes the chance of the inflammatory heart condition even slimmer. 

However, experts have been aware that prior infection with Covid may increase the risk of myocarditis following a subsequent vaccination for several months, as shown by minutes from the JCVI’s meetings in July.

And while the time buffer has now been widened to at least 12 weeks, it does mean that more than one million 12 to 15-year-olds who have already been vaccinated may have got their jab within this window. 

Children were allowed to get a jab in September, at the exact same time as infections in secondary school children were skyrocketing. 

Prof Whitty authorised jabs for 12 to 15-year-olds on September 13. One month later one in every 11 children had Covid, according to the Office of National Statistics.