Children aged five to 11 are set to be included in the Covid vaccine rollout in the coming months under leaked NHS proposals, it is reported.
The plan comes due to fears that Covid will remain a threat for the coming two years and immunising children will be necessary to help lower infection rates.
But so far health officials are keeping the proposals secret due to a possible backlash from parents, it is claimed.
The vaccination of kids as young as five has already begun in the US and it is set to start soon in Canada and Israel.
UK regulators would still need to give the final go-ahead for under-12s to have the vaccine and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation must also agree to kids as young as five being jabbed.
A source told the Sun: “Top secret plans reveal what is at stake if we are to achieve a meaningful victory over Covid. Asking parents for permission to jab kids as young as five is in the schedule.
“It is controversial, but will help us reach our goal.
"Nothing is in the public domain yet, and the plans could change, but jabbing young children is backed by many scientists."
While kids have a much lower chance of falling seriously ill from Covid, they can still pass it on to adults.
Data from the Office of National Statistics also suggest that most parents would be in favour of vaccinating children.
Currently Pfizer is looking to get the go-ahead from European regulators so that it could start a roll-out of vaccines for children.
It comes with the UK having recorded more than 40,000 Covid cases for the second day in a row.
Friday saw 44,242 infections registered, according to official government data. A further 157 fatalities were also recorded.
In comparison, 46,807 cases and 199 deaths were registered yesterday - the highest total since Friday, October 22.
Infections have remained above the 30,000 mark since Sunday, September 19.
