From Sky News
Do benefits of jabbing children outweigh risks? And why it's not just about stopping them getting ill
The JCVI will have been looking closely at the emerging data from countries that have started to vaccinate under 18s.
Israel began vaccinating 16-18 year olds in January so school exams would not be disrupted. In June, its health ministry said it would start vaccinating 12-15 year olds. Its scientists concluded the benefits of protection from the vaccine outweigh the risks.
In the United States, the Centre For Diseases Control And Prevention (CDC) recommends everyone over the age of 12 should get the COVID vaccination, stressing that the jab is safe and effective.
There had been some cases of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, in adolescents and young adults reported more often after getting the second dose than after the first.
The CDC concluded these reports are rare and the potential benefits of vaccination outweigh the known and potential risks.
And that conclusion has been reached in some countries in Europe too.
France has started vaccinating those from 12 years upwards, provided they have parental consent. Spain plans to start vaccinating children between 12 and 17 years old around two weeks before the academic year starts in September.
We know children are less likely to be affected by COVID than adults. But some children do fall sick and some of these will become very ill.
The government will argue it is better to protect these children too.
But the reason to rollout the vaccine in children is to break the transmission chains in households and more importantly in schools when they reopen for the autumn term.
We know the winter is going to be especially difficult with seasonal respiratory infections rebounding after being largely suppressed last year thanks to lockdown.
So the government will be thinking about ways to reduce the spread of COVID ahead of an expected winter surge.
It was told by the JCVI that it needed more time to study the potential risk to children and now it seems they have seen the evidence and will fall into line with other countries.