Covid-19 jabs for healthy children aged between 12 and 15 are not being recommended in the UK, it has been announced.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has confirmed that it is widening the so-far limited rollout to more children in this age bracket who have underlying health conditions.
But it is not recommending mass vaccination of children aged between 12 and 15. The JCVI's advice has been followed throughout the pandemic by all four UK nations.
Read more: Coronavirus infection rates, cases and deaths for all parts of Wales on Friday, September 3
The programme is being extended from what had been considered the most at-risk children to include children with chronic major heart, lung, kidney, liver and neurological conditions. It means an extra 200,000 teens with underlying conditions will now be eligible for two doses.
The decision on healthy children was based on concern over an extremely rare side effect of the Pfizer vaccine which causes heart inflammation.
But as children are at such low risk from the virus, they decided that vaccination would offer only "marginal gain" and, therefore, there was "insufficient" evidence to offer mass vaccination.
UK health ministers from across the four nations have now written to the Chief Medical Officers to request they begin the process of assessing the broader impact of universal Covid-19 vaccination in this age group.
Welsh Government Health Minister Eluned Morgan said: "I would like to thank the JCVI for fully considering the issue of vaccinating 12-15 year olds and for taking the care to form a balanced view.
"Our intention as it has been from the start of the pandemic is to follow the science and evidence, and I have asked my Chief Medical Officer to provide guidance at the earliest opportunity on the clinical and wider health benefits of vaccinating this age group."
On Wednesday, September 1 the JCVI decided that all people who have severely weakened immune systems will be offered a third dose of a coronavirus vaccine.
It said that those with conditions such as leukaemia, advanced HIV and recent organ transplants who are over the age of 12 will be given a third jab.
The announcement was separate to the booster programme which is set to start in Wales in the coming weeks. You can read more about that here.
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