A leading health expert has said that the side effects of children receiving the vaccine are "mild".

Dr June Raine, of the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, said that while side effects resulting from the coronavirus vaccines in young people can occur they were very rare.

She made her comments in a press conference today (September 13) in which the UK's for chief medical officers (CMOs) announced they were advising ministers to offer the coronavirus vaccines to children between the ages of 12 and 15.

The CMOs said that their decision was made after finding that the benefits of offering the vaccine to children outweighed the risks.

However, Prof Chris Whitty stated that the gap between the benefits and the risk was marginal. The decision to offer the vaccine to children was made after factoring in the negative health impacts that were caused by the pandemic disrupting education.

But Dr Raine made clear that while there were some side effects that could pose a risk to children, they were often mild cases and patients usually recovered quickly.

She told a Downing Street press conference on Monday: “There has been a particular interest in reports of heart inflammation, myocarditis and pericarditis.

“These both happen very rarely in the general population and our job is to continually review the balance of what we observe against what we expect to see.

“We’ve undertaken a very thorough review, both of the UK and the international reports, there is a consistent pattern, slightly more often frequently do we see cases in young males and after the second dose.

“But, overall, the conclusion of our expert advisers is these are mild cases, individuals usually recover within a short period of time with standard treatment.

“Our advice remains that the benefits outweigh the risks of getting vaccinated, and this includes those aged 12 to 15.”