Anti-vax protesters storm UK drug regulator’s London office in protest over planned Covid jab for children
RT 3 Sep, 2021 12:46 / Updated 12 hours ago
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Protesters have stormed the headquarters of the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in London’s Canary Wharf and clashed with police amid a demonstration against plans to roll out Covid vaccines for children.
London’s Metropolitan Police force
confirmed that a group of protesters attempted to breach the building that serves as the drug regulator’s headquarters but were thwarted by officers and security guards who are now standing guard outside.
Police were reportedly able to quickly respond to the attempt to storm the MHRA’s office building as they were already in the area to halt an Extinction Rebellion protest earlier in the day, according to UK media.
It is not yet known if anyone was injured or detained in the clashes with police. The protest was taking place ahead of an expected decision by the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on expanding Covid vaccinations for 12- to 15-year-olds. While the JCVI’s decision is advisory, the UK government has followed its guidance on the Covid vaccine rollout.
The UK government has already stated that it’s prepared to begin vaccinating the age group, in line with other European nations, as soon as possible, with school-age children set to return to classrooms in the coming weeks.
The demonstration at the MHRA’s Canary Wharf office comes after similar protests elsewhere in London. On August 23, anti-vax activists gathered outside the office of tech giant Google to accuse the company of seeking to suppress those who are critical of Covid vaccines and restrictions imposed during the pandemic. Similarly, activists stormed the offices of ITN productions, which is behind news channels ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, to oppose the media’s coverage of the Covid pandemic for, in the protestors’ view, failing to hold the government to account.
The MHRA, an independent drug regulatory body, is responsible for authorising the development of vaccines, clinical trials of potential new medicines and managing the supplies of vaccines and other medical items. Throughout the pandemic, it has worked closely with the UK government and medical providers, including the NHS, to coordinate the response to the Covid crisis.
UK's vaccine advisory body REFUSES to approve Covid jabs for healthy 12- to 15-year-olds
RT 3 Sep, 2021 14:45 / Updated 10 hours ago
The UK government’s vaccine advisers have recommended Covid-19 shots for 12–15-year-olds with underlying health conditions, but they won’t make them universally available to the age group, claiming there’s little benefit.
On Friday, the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said it would expand the administration of Covid vaccines to those between the ages of 12 and 15 who have underlying health conditions.
However, in contrast with decisions made elsewhere around the world, the vaccine won’t be offered more widely to that age cohort, with the JCVI claiming there may be little benefit in inoculating healthy teens against the virus.
“The JCVI’s view is that overall, the health benefits from Covid-19 vaccination to healthy children aged 12 to 15 years are marginally greater than the potential harms,” said chair of Covid-19 immunisation for the JCVI, Wei Shen Lim.
The group said they would be taking a
“precautionary approach” on the issue, noting that the benefit of inoculating the whole age group with Covid-19 vaccines was only marginally greater than the potential harms. The mRNA vaccines, which are the only shots available to younger generations in the UK, have been linked with rare side-effects, such as myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart.
The JCVI said that the vaccines are reviewed in an ongoing basis.
The government’s vaccine advisers emphasised that very few people in the age group have been hospitalised with Covid-19, and the majority of those who had, suffered from underlying health conditions.
There had been calls to make the vaccine universally available to teens, as kids in England and Wales head back to school. Evidence from Scotland, where children are already in class, suggests the return to school has been partially responsible for a jump in case numbers.
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