Other countries need Covid vaccine before British teenagers, ministers told

Teaching leaders call for rollout of vaccination programme for pupils but joint committee says issue needs further debate

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The government's official advisers on vaccines will not be rushed into launching an immunisation programme for teenagers despite demands from teaching leaders to prioritise secondary school pupils.

It is understood that the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) regards the ethical issues involved in vaccinating children to be delicately balanced and will require a complicated series of judgments about how to proceed in coming weeks.