Ministers face mounting pressure to U-turn<\/a> and expand the eligibility criteria so that clinically vulnerable children and adults under 75 can receive the jab for free.<\/p>\n The Government decision to restrict access to the jabs \u2013 following advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) \u2013 has pushed more people to pay up to \u00a3100 for the vaccine privately in the UK.<\/p>\n However, private providers are not licensed to give the vaccine to children under 12, prompting some desperate parents to make the costly journey abroad. <\/p>\n Some parents want to vaccinate their children against Covid because they are vulnerable due to illness, or to protect other immunosuppressed relatives.<\/p>\n Many experts, including JCVI members, argue the severity of Covid is now much less than previously as measured by hospitalisations and deaths.<\/p>\n Professor Paul Hunter, Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, said: \u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Prominent organisations supporting clinically vulnerable people argue that they should not need passports to protect their children.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Five trips to Germany<\/p>\n Germany\u2019s Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) does not recommend Covid vaccinations for babies, young children and adolescents without underlying conditions.<\/p>\n But the vaccine can be given to healthy children under five by private paediatricians.<\/p>\n Children aged between six months and four years old receive the jab in two microdoses with an interval of at least eight weeks.<\/p>\n 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 \u00a31,000 per journey \u2013 nearly \u00a35,000 in total. <\/p>\n While Mr Waldman said the vaccines cost between \u20ac20-24, fuel, accommodation and Eurotunnel costs of hundreds of pounds pushed up the price.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cWe 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\u2019t go outside. Obviously, the advice changed over the next few years, but we were obviously very concerned about Covid,\u201d Mr Waldman said.<\/p>\n The couple\u2019s determination to get their children vaccinated was driven by concerns about the potential impact of Covid infection on their health.<\/p>\n Primary immunodeficiencies are typically hereditary and the Waldmans\u2019 children are both being monitored to find out if they too have conditions that make them vulnerable to infection.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/SEI_272604364.jpg\")
The Waldmans have made five trips to Germany to vaccinate their two children under five against Covid (Photo: Supplied)<\/p>\n