I’m in favour of vaccination for children aged 12 to 15, mainly because I think the more people who are inoculated against Covid, the less chance there is of the virus taking hold in the community, whatever the variant.

It’s reassuring that the UK chief medical officers have decided to make a firm decision in the light of the indecision of some experts and in contrast to the Joint Committee on Vaccines and Immunisation, who don’t seem to be able to reach a conclusion.

Sitting on the fence helps no one and creates mistrust and insecurity across the board so I’m relieved that we’re going forward with the plan to vaccinate children and teens.

The case for vaccinating children under 12 is very finely balanced because Covid at that age is invariably a mild condition.

I think the day will come, in the not too distant future, when children younger than 12 will be vaccinated as well. This new jabs plan will cut down the circulation of the virus in schools and classrooms and probably in the homes of vaccinated children so it’s a win-win.

Parents traditionally worry that a child’s immune system is not strong enough to cope with a vaccination but I think their concerns are unfounded.

In fact, a child’s immune system is capable of handling hundreds of doses of vaccinations quite easily so parents can be reassured about this initiative.