All UK children aged five and over could still be offered the Covid vaccine despite a rejection yesterday by the government’s advisors.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) ruled kids aged 5-11 could get the jab - but only if they were in a vulnerable group.
Most 5-11-year-olds were not offered the jab in yesterday’s announcement, despite a study finding they are three times more likely to be infected than other age groups.
While not ruling out jabs for all over-5s, the JCVI said only that further advice would be issued “in due course” after “additional data” is considered.
But JCVI member Prof Adam Finn today insisted the issue "is still under very active consideration”.
He told LBC Radio: "There are a number of moving parts to that decision.
"We see very, very few severe cases in this young age group, happily, so there is not much serious disease to be prevented.
"The factor that persuaded the Government to introduce vaccination for older children was the disruption of their education and the ability of vaccines to reduce ... transmission of infection among children as well as between children and adults.
"With the Omicron variant, in particular, the ability of the vaccines to do that will be reduced.
"Many of these children will now already have had the infection.
“We just need to weigh up all of those things and make sure that a decision to move forward would benefit those children and actually do some good.”
An estimated 4.47% of primary school-aged children have the virus in contrast with 1.41% across the country overall, according to government-backed research.
REACT-1, a joint study by Imperial College London and Ipsos Mori, analysed data from 97,000 volunteers in England to examine national Covid-19 levels between November 23 and December 14.
The prevalence of Covid-19 in secondary school-aged children, previously the worst-affected age group, more than halved, while among those aged 75 and over it dropped by approximately two-thirds.
Scientists added the figures were taken from a time period when Omicron was only just starting to take hold.
Meanwhile Prof Finn said it was possible that people may need to get a fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine.
He told LBC: "I think there will be people probably who will receive a fourth jab - whether that will be everyone, I think, is still very much in doubt.
"We do need to see how things go through this wave and beyond.
"I think there may well be people who received their boosters early who are in the older more vulnerable age groups who may need a further jab - that has not been decided yet.
"It is still under review and discussion, and we will be providing recommendations on that at some point in the new year."
The head of Britain's vaccine watchdog has already warned Brits may need more regular boosters in future thanks to the decision to rush through a shorter rollout.
JCVI chief Prof Wei Shen Lim said on December 14 that waiting three months, not six, for a booster dose “might mean a lower peak protection”.
He added the shorter gap was only approved on the basis that an “Omicron wave” was on the way and needed urgent action.
He told MPs: “If you get the booster at six months and you teach a higher level, say 200, and that wanes at a certain constant rate, to drop from 200 to 50 would take a period of time.
“If you get the booster at three months and the peak level it can get to is lower, say 150, and it wanes at the same rate, it will reach 50 at an earlier time point.”
Asked if that meant people may need to get more regular boosters, he replied: “Indeed.
“And that’s why, generally if possible, we try and push out the duration between two doses.”
