ITV's Lorraine hit with backlash after Dr Hilary urges parents to vaccinate children

17.02.2022 - 18:13 / dailyrecord.co.uk

Lorraine Kelly's ITV breakfast show has come under fire after Dr Hilary encouraged parents to vaccinate their young children.

Dr Hilary appeared on the show on Thursday morning and discussed the positives of vaccinating young children aged five to 11 with Christine Lampard, who stepped in for Lorraine Kelly.

The TV doctor urged parents to go forward with vaccinating their children after plans were announced that the government are allowing kids aged five to 11 in the UK to be offered a low dose of the vaccine.

He acknowledged the parental anxiety around possible side-effects from the jab, but noted that eight million doses have been delivered in the US with “no real problems at all”.

He said: “Their risks are quite small in that age group, however primary school kids at the moment are the age group that have the highest number of cases of Covid.

“It’s ripping through schools at the moment. Many children are losing a lot of time in school as a result. If we vaccinate children they will be having their education and not be bringing the infection back home.”

He added: “It’s considered to be extremely safe and effective. That’s the major thing.

“The side-effects that people are worried about - particularly myocarditis, which is a mild inflammation of the heart and occurs in about two children of every million who are vaccinated, so it’s very, very rare, it’s also short-lived and temporary.

“You’re much more likely to get myocarditis with Covid itself or a host of other infections, so in the great scheme of things the risks are tiny.”

Dr Hilary said the rollout to youngsters is not considered to be “urgent”, the GP said he would vaccinate his children with the jab if they were this age.

However, not all viewers agreed with Dr