By Tony O’Riley-
Calls for Covid jabs for children under six are based on unreliable claims of hospitalisations, The Eye Of Media.Com can reveal.
Vaccinating children under the age of six could have benefits of reducing their chances of catching the virus, but claims of reported hospitalisations for children in this age group lack verification.
Children under six years of age, appear to have been erroneously reported to be four times more likely to be admitted to hospital with Covid than school-aged children in England , and three times more likely than during last January’s wave of covid.
Circulated news highlighting an increase of hospitalisation of six year old’s with Covid has the painful weakness of failing to reveal the primary reason these children were admitted to hospital, potentially distorting the truth in the process.
Reports that a record number of children in England were admitted to hospital with COVID on 3 January, according to government data, lack validity.
The latest figures have prompted the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) to call on the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to reevaluate its position on jabs for young children, amid uncertainties about the Omicron variant and its risk to youngsters.
The society was responding to analysis by NationalWorld showing children aged under six are now four times more likely than school-aged children to be admitted to hospital with Covid, as a proportion of the population.
An estimated 157 children were reportedly admitted on the Bank Holiday Monday, 110 of whom were aged 5 or younger, but no information has been provided about why those children where admitted to hospital, rendering the report unreliable.
Data from the UK Covid dashboard shows 569 children aged 0 to five were admitted to hospital with Covid in England in the seven days to 3 January.
That was an increase of 73% compared to the week to 27 December when there were 328 admissions, much higher than the average increase across all age groups of 58%.
Government data reveals that the week to 3 January, there were 14.5 admissions for every 100,000 under sixes in England, a rate four times higher than for children aged six to 17, for whom there were 3.5 admissions. That is a record high to date in the pandemic. Last January the rate peaked at 4.4 admissions among 0 to five year olds.
The Welsh Government have on the other told NationalWorld it did not hold hospital admissions data by age group.
All children aged 12 and over are eligible for vaccines. Jabs have also recently been approved for vulnerable youngsters aged five to 11.
Dr Jyotsna Vohra, RSPH director of policy and public affairs, said: “While uncertainties remain about the Omicron variant, and the risk it poses to young children, the rise in hospital admissions in children under 11 years presents a growing concern.
“The JCVI has previously advised against vaccinating children under 12, however in light of rising hospitalisations and [the fact that] that the use of Covid-19 vaccines in young children has been approved in other countries, RSPH urge the JCVI to evaluate the growing evidence base and its implications on current guidance.”
Nhs England was contacted by phonefor comment, but had no immediate response.