Children could receive covid vaccines from August as the government pushes for maximum immunity, sources have revealed.
The plan leaked to The Telegraph means that up to 11 million under 18s could have jabs by the start of the autumn term, months ahead of when inoculations had been expected for children.
The government awaits data from a major child vaccine study by Oxford University, with conclusions due in June or July, which will dictate the final decision on jabs for children.
The proposal is bound to be controversial because the virus poses only a minuscule risk to children and there is constantly evolving data on vaccine safety.
Figures from Public Health England (PHE) show the risk of dying from covid if infected is 1,513 per 100,000 people for over-80s, but for children aged five to nine, this is just 0.1 per 100,000.
People who back the policy argue that it is important to minimise the risk of infection, despite academics who argue children do not contribute to the spread of covid.
Israel is the first country in the world to have rolled out vaccines to children, with 16 and 17-year-olds having jabs after the health ministry decided it was safe.
Britain's vaccine drive, like Israel's, has been immensely successful - with around three million first doses administered each week.
If the proposal to jab children goes ahead, this would mean 11 million kids could be vaccinated before the start of the autumn term.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said 'no decisions have been made on whether children should be offered vaccinations.'
One source involved in the plan told The Telegraph that vaccines for children 'could begin by late summer,' stating specifically that August was the date.
Another source said that this would be the 'earliest' the roll-out for under-18s would begin.
Only children who are at a high risk of covid are currently able to have a vaccine.
The Oxford trial which the Department of Health is looking to involves 300 children aged six to 17 who are receiving AstraZeneca jabs.
There are likely to be exemptions if the vaccine is granted approval for children, and it is expected that parents would have the final say so in any case.
Prof. Adam Finn, a paediatrician on the government's jabs committee, told the Telegraph: 'Children constitute close to quarter of the population, so even if we could achieve 100 per cent uptake of vaccines across the adult population, it only gets you to 75 per cent coverage.'
The proposal to vaccinate children underlines the extent to which the government feels it must drive down cases ahead of next winter.
Boris Johnson on Tuesday conceded at the Downing Street press briefing that eradicating covid wasn't on the table.
'I'm not sure that eradication makes sense in a globalised economy for one country alone,' the PM said.
Mr Johnson struck a sombre tone on Tuesday as Britain remembered its 126,000 covid dead on the first anniversary of lockdown.
He offered his 'sincere condolences to those who have lost loved ones' as he reflected on 'a very dark and difficult year.'
But he has warned recently of another wave 'washing up on our shores' amid rising cases in Europe and said on Tuesday it was 'too early to say' whether overseas holidays would be possible.
One way in which they might be feasible is through vaccinations, and in more inoculation news, it was revealed in a leak dossier yesterday that care home workers will be made to have the jab.
Mr Johnson and Matt Hancock are believed to have pushed for the move amid alarm over the low take-up of jabs among care home staff.
Figures show that only around a quarter of care homes in London and around half in other parts of England have reached 'safe' levels of vaccination of staff.
A paper was submitted to the Covid-19 Operations Cabinet sub-committee last week to make jabs compulsory for care home staff, according to the Daily Telegraph.
If the measures are voted through then England's 1.5 million workers in social care could become legally required to get a coronavirus jab.
It presents a major departure from the government's previous insistence the jab would not be made mandatory.
It is also expected to raise anger among staff, with the paper itself warning that the policy could trigger an exodus of staff and even a string of human rights lawsuits.
The paper was drafted by the Department of Health and Social Care and is titled 'Vaccination as a condition of deployment in adult social care and health setting'.
The key section for care workers reads: 'The Prime Minister and the Secretary of State [for Health] have discussed on several occasions the progress that is being made to vaccinate social care workers against Covid-19 and have agreed – in order to reach a position of much greater safety for care recipients – to put in place legislation to require vaccinations among the workforce.'
The paper also revealed how the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), set a benchmark of 80 per cent vaccination among staff and 90 per cent vaccination among residents for a care home to be deemed safe.
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