Private providers are not licensed to give the vaccine to children under 12, prompting some desperate parents to make the costly journey abroad
Families are spending thousands of pounds travelling abroad to vaccinate their children against Covid because of significant changes to who is eligible for jabs on the NHS.
Ministers face mounting pressure to U-turn and expand the eligibility criteria so that clinically vulnerable children and adults under 75 can receive the jab for free.
The Government decision to restrict access to the jabs – following advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) – has pushed more people to pay up to £100 for the vaccine privately in the UK.
However, private providers are not licensed to give the vaccine to children under 12, prompting some desperate parents to make the costly journey abroad.
Some parents want to vaccinate their children against Covid because they are vulnerable due to illness, or to protect other immunosuppressed relatives.
Many experts, including JCVI members, argue the severity of Covid is now much less than previously as measured by hospitalisations and deaths.
Professor Paul Hunter, Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, said: “The point is that Covid as an illness is a lot less likely to be severe enough to put people in hospital as even a couple of years ago. Also, the relative effectiveness of vaccine is less due hybrid immunity (prior infections and vaccinations in most people) so that the benefits of vaccine do not outweigh the costs/harms for most people anymore.”
Prominent organisations supporting clinically vulnerable people argue that they should not need passports to protect their children.
Amos Waldman, a barrister, drove to Germany with his wife Alexandra, their now four-year-old daughter and 14-month-old son, so that their children could get the Covid vaccine.
Five trips to Germany
Germany’s Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) does not recommend Covid vaccinations for babies, young children and adolescents without underlying conditions.
But the vaccine can be given to healthy children under five by private paediatricians.
Children aged between six months and four years old receive the jab in two microdoses with an interval of at least eight weeks.
The Waldmans have made the trip five times, including travelling for their daughter to get a booster as per previous guidance, at a cost of around £1,000 per journey – nearly £5,000 in total.
The Waldmans have made five trips to Germany to vaccinate their two children under five against Covid (Photo: Supplied)
While Mr Waldman said the vaccines cost between €20-24, fuel, accommodation and Eurotunnel costs of hundreds of pounds pushed up the price.
Mr Waldman, who is 46 and from Stockport, Greater Manchester, and his wife got their vaccines on the NHS because they have primary immunodeficiencies, conditions that mean individuals have reduced or no natural defence against germs such as bacteria and viruses. It means the couple get infections more often than others, can take longer to get better and experience recurring illness.
“We received text messages telling us to shield [at] the end of March 2020, basically saying, if you want to fresh air, open the window, don’t go outside. Obviously, the advice changed over the next few years, but we were obviously very concerned about Covid,” Mr Waldman said.
The couple’s determination to get their children vaccinated was driven by concerns about the potential impact of Covid infection on their health.
Primary immunodeficiencies are typically hereditary and the Waldmans’ children are both being monitored to find out if they too have conditions that make them vulnerable to infection.
Their son was hospitalised with flu, despite being vaccinated, and also caught Covid before he was able to have the Covid jab in May.
“We were hoping, really hoping, to be able to get him vaccinated before he got Covid for the first time.”
Mr Waldman added “it seems outrageous that there is this safe vaccine” that his children cannot get at home.
The JCVI does not advise Covid vaccination of children aged six months to four years who are not in a clinical risk group.
Adults under 75 who are not most vulnerable can pay for private Covid jabs.
No jab for daughter due to have brain surgery
One mother from Derbyshire said she felt “let down” by the Government and the NHS after discovering her eight-year-old daughter with complex epilepsy was no longer eligible for Covid vaccine boosters, after having received the jab for free on the NHS twice a year previously because she is clinically vulnerable.
The mother, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: “We really don’t want the risk of complications from Covid or long Covid on top of all the other things she has to deal with.”
The family’s concerns are heightened because their daughter is due to have brain surgery in a few months.
“That is a big concern – that we’ll be in hospital, we’re surrounded by lots of people, some people will have things like Covid, and she’s going to be at risk.
“To find out there was no private vaccines [for children under 12] was a big shock – that doesn’t seem to make sense.”
Going abroad is not an option for the family who do not have passports and because of their concerns about the risks of catching Covid during travel.
The change in eligibility was not directly communicated and the mother only found out after trying to book her daughter’s vaccine appointment a few weeks ago without success.
“It’s been very quietly changed and a lot of vulnerable people are feeling left out.”
Pharmacists said the lack of clear communication explaining the changes was a key issue.
Thorrun Govind, a pharmacist based in Manchester, said while she thinks it is important to review who is eligible over time, this needs to be communicated.
“I understand why it’s a concern,” she said. “I think once again communication isn’t where it should have been with regards to this update.”
Leyla Hannbeck, CEO of the Independent Pharmacies Association, said: “The poor communication has been a real problem for everybody, inconvenienced a lot of people.”
Lara Wong, founder of Clinically Vulnerable Families (CVF), said “it shouldn’t take a passport to protect your child”.
“Some families in CVF are now scraping together money to travel to Europe, but others without passports or without the funds, have no choices to protect their children with a first dose,” she added.
“We know vaccination helps reduce hospitalisations, Long Covid and death. We hope Pfizer can at least release paediatric doses to the UK private market, and that the UK government can, bring back NHS vaccine access for high-risk families. No child’s first encounter with Covid should be an infection.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We understand the concerns of families who are no longer eligible for a free Covid vaccine on the NHS.
“Eligibility is based on expert, independent advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which advised this autumn’s campaign should focus on those at greatest risk of serious illness – people aged 75 and over, residents in older adult care homes, and individuals who are immunosuppressed.
“The NHS website provides detailed information on eligibility, including guidance based on age, health conditions and medications. Anyone with concerns about their individual circumstances should speak to their GP or healthcare team.
“Covid vaccines may also available privately for those not eligible for the NHS programme.”