England’s chief medical officer (CMO) should resign over his decision to roll out Covid vaccinations to children “without good clinical reason”, a backbench Tory MP has claimed.A row broke out on Monday after the government announced 12 to 15-year-olds will be offered one Pfizer jab from next week, following a decision made by the CMOs of each of the UK’s four nations, including England’s Professor Chris Whitty.

Responding to the move in a tweet on Monday night Marcus Fysh, the Conservative MP for Yeovil, claimed Prof Whitty “does not deserve the confidence of the country” as he called for him to step down.

Speaking in the House of Commons earlier, Mr Fysh said he had “grave concerns about this policy and the fact that the chief medical officers have made their decision on the basis of the educational impact rather than the health of the children at clinical level.”

In a previous ruling the JCVI, which looks at vaccinations from a purely clinical perspective, concluded that the virus presents a very low risk for children and therefore an inoculation programme would offer only minor benefits.

Read More: Tory MP calls for Chris Whitty to resign after Covid vaccines approved for 12 to 15-year-olds

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