Vaxx for kids: Just ELEVEN under-15s in England and Wales died of Covid in 2020 

Just 11 children died from Covid in the UK during the first year of the p(l)andemic, new figures show.

A report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found the virus was mentioned on the death certificates of 13 people under the age of 15 in England and Wales in 2020, and was the underlying cause in 11 of them.

Covid was behind less than one per cent of all deaths among children that year, the data suggest, with congenital defects and genetic disorders the leading causes of mortality. The analysis is the latest to highlight the tiny threat the virus poses to children.

The ONS report found that, despite 2020 being the year of the pandemic, child deaths from all causes were at the lowest level since records began in 1980.

Ministers this week have approved Covid vaccines for all children aged five to 11 after months of deliberation among the Government's advisers.

While the ONS data only covers 2020, figures from the Government's own dashboard suggest there have been 65 Covid deaths among children in England since the start of the pandemic. 

This dataset is different from the ONS' because it looks at all deaths within 28 days of a positive test, regardless of the actual cause — meaning theoretically even car crash victims can be included.  

Experts estimate that around 85 per cent of British children have now had Covid and that their risk of dying from Covid is around 0.001 per cent, and even lower when youngsters with underlying health conditions are excluded. The ONS report did not reveal whether any of the 11 victims had any pre-existing ailments that left them at more risk.

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