* UK advisers split with policy in United States and Israel
* Government consults on impact on schools
* JCVI member: booster guidance expected imminently (Adds detail, interview with JCVI member)
By Alistair Smout
LONDON, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Britain's vaccine advisers said they were not recommending the vaccination of all 12- to 15-year-olds against COVID-19, preferring a precautionary approach in healthy children due to uncertainty over the longer term impact of rare side-effects.
The advice could see Britain pursue a different approach to the United States, Israel and some European countries, which are pursuing broader vaccination of the age group.
However a final decision has not been taken, as the government said it would consult medical advisers to look at other factors, such as disruption to schools. Many politicians have spoken out in favour of vaccinating more children.
Britain has reported more than 133,000 deaths from COVID-19 and nearly 7 million cases, and while transmission among children can be high, they are rarely severely ill from the disease.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on Friday said children with underlying conditions that made them more at risk from COVID-19 should get vaccinated. For others, there was a small benefit from receiving COVID-19 vaccination.
However, it said that although reports of heart inflammation, known as myocarditis, in young people following vaccination with Pfizer's shot were usually mild, it preferred to wait for more information about the medium and long-term effects of the condition before recommending the vaccines to healthy children.
"The JCVI's view is that overall, the health benefits from COVID-19 vaccination to healthy children aged 12 to 15 years are marginally greater than the potential harms," said Wei Shen Lim, Chair of COVID-19 Immunisation for the JCVI.
"Taking a precautionary approach, this margin of benefit is considered too small to support universal COVID-19 vaccination for this age group at this time," he said, adding that safety data would be reviewed on an ongoing basis.
The JCVI said it would expand the eligibility for COVID-19 vaccinations to more 12 to 15-year-olds with underlying health conditions, emphasising that the vast majority of the few children who are hospitalised with COVID-19 have such conditions.
The committee is also expected to give further advice on a potential booster vaccine programme for the elderly and vulnerable which could start this month.
"We've been waiting for those data in order to formulate final decisions around boosting, which I think everyone should expect to hear about within the next few days," JCVI member Adam Finn, a paediatrician at the University of Bristol, told Reuters. (Reporting by Alistair Smout, Editing by Paul Sandle, Michael Holden and Raissa Kasolowsky)
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