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Earlier today the BMJ and the Integrative Epidemiology Unit at the University of Bristol hosted another impressive webinar in their Covid-19 series, "Vaccination in Children: Evidence, Ethics, and Equity”. In part 4 of the webinar (questions and answers), there was a question about the transparency of the data seen by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) during deliberations at their recent meeting to decide whether to recommend vaccination against Covid-19 in children aged 12-15 years, and whether these data were available to the public. One of the panel members, himself a member of the JCVI, reassured the audience that these data were accessible, and were either already in the public domain, or soon to be published, at least as pre-prints.
I have just searched the JCVI website and cannot find any such minutes from the JCVI meeting in question. The most recently published JCVI minutes are from the 22 June 2021 meeting, which was concerned with other matters (1). There is a press release dated 3rd September 2021 which announces and elucidates the JCVI’s recommendations about Covid-19 vaccination in children aged 12-15, including an expanded list of eligible conditions (2). However, at the present time, it is not clear which data the JCVI considered. In the interests of transparency, could the JCVI reassure readers that they will be publishing their deliberations and the data on which these were based, and/or cite the relevant peer-reviewed publications and pre-prints.
Accessibility and transparency of data considered by the JCVI
Dear Editor
Earlier today the BMJ and the Integrative Epidemiology Unit at the University of Bristol hosted another impressive webinar in their Covid-19 series, "Vaccination in Children: Evidence, Ethics, and Equity”. In part 4 of the webinar (questions and answers), there was a question about the transparency of the data seen by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) during deliberations at their recent meeting to decide whether to recommend vaccination against Covid-19 in children aged 12-15 years, and whether these data were available to the public. One of the panel members, himself a member of the JCVI, reassured the audience that these data were accessible, and were either already in the public domain, or soon to be published, at least as pre-prints.
I have just searched the JCVI website and cannot find any such minutes from the JCVI meeting in question. The most recently published JCVI minutes are from the 22 June 2021 meeting, which was concerned with other matters (1). There is a press release dated 3rd September 2021 which announces and elucidates the JCVI’s recommendations about Covid-19 vaccination in children aged 12-15, including an expanded list of eligible conditions (2). However, at the present time, it is not clear which data the JCVI considered. In the interests of transparency, could the JCVI reassure readers that they will be publishing their deliberations and the data on which these were based, and/or cite the relevant peer-reviewed publications and pre-prints.
1. https://app.box.com/s/iddfb4ppwkmtjusir2tc/file/849032554320
2. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/jcvi-issues-updated-advice-on-covid-1...
Competing interests: No competing interests