Responding to news that children over 12 who are at higher risk of getting ill if they catch Covid-19 will be offered the jab Henny Braund MBE, Chief Executive of blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan, says:
‘We welcome the announcement that children aged 12-15 will be offered the coronavirus vaccine if they are at higher risk of getting ill if they catch the virus or live in a household with a person who is clinically extremely vulnerable.
‘At Anthony Nolan we’ve heard from many vulnerable people with blood cancer who have felt unable to send their children to school, including where the child is too vulnerable themselves to risk exposure to the virus. Some have been shielding as a family for nearly 18 months because of the risk that their child might pass on the virus. The mental health impact of entire families having to curtail their lives for so long has been massive. This news will come as a big relief to many families that their needs have not been forgotten as Covid-19 restrictions start to ease.’
Fund urgent research – make sure all patients have a vaccine that works for them
By donating to our Vaccine Research Appeal, you could fund urgent research and enable the UK’s top haematologists to study blood samples from people with blood cancer, who have had one of the available COVID-19 vaccines. This will help determine the level of protection which vaccines provide to patients and make sure that there’s a vaccine that works for people with blood cancer.