Vaccinating children ‘not a high priority’ amid shortage: WHO

Top expert says as children are at ‘very, very low risk’ of getting COVID, other more vulnerable groups should be put first.

The World Health Organization’s top vaccines expert has said that immunising children against COVID-19 is not a high priority from a WHO perspective, given the extremely limited global supply of doses. During a social media session on Thursday, Dr Kate O’Brien said children should not be a focus of COVID-19 immunisation programmes, even as increasing numbers of rich countries authorise their coronavirus shots for teenagers and children. “Children are at (a) very, very low risk of actually getting COVID disease,” said O’Brien, a paediatrician and director of the WHO’s vaccines department.