Councils should protect kids from anti-vax protests outside schools say MPs

Councils should have more power to stop anti-vaccination protesters from demonstrating outside schools, says Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.

Since school children have been offered the COVID-19 vaccine, there have some online and in-person anti-vaccination protests at schools.

Protestors are concerned about safety of the vaccine, but their claims are often unfounded.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said "it is completely unacceptable for children, teachers, or parents to be intimidated and harassed outside their school by protesters peddling misinformation and dangerous lies about the life-saving vaccine programme."

Newsround spoke to BBC Health Correspondent Jim Reed to find out more.

The anti-vaccination movement believe that some or all vaccines are not a good thing. They do not want themselves, family members or, in this case, school children to be vaccinated.

The name is sometimes shortened to 'anti-vax', and people who support it might be referred to as 'anti-vaxxers'.

Those who make anti-vax claims usually don't have a scientific or medical background and claims can sometimes sound far-fetched, They want to try and convince people that vaccines aren't safe or to make them believe a conspiracy theory.

BBC Health Correspondent Jim Reed says the protests are not planned by a big organisation, but instead are arranged by groups on a mobile messaging app .

Jim Reed, the BBC's Health Correspondent, said "those gathering outside schools think it's wrong to vaccinate children" and believe the vaccine will put children at risk in some way.

Teachers have said some anti-vax protestors outside schools have been showing distressing pictures and spreading misinformation about the coronavirus vaccines to children.

These include things like leaflets which have information in them that usually don't have a scientific or medical approval, and links to websites with extremist views and conspiracy videos.

Some anti-vax protesters also sent head teachers a fake NHS document, which set out false risks of taking the vaccine,

But Jim Reed says all Covid vaccines are put through safety testing before being rolled out the public.

The World Health Organization (WHO), says "vaccines are very safe" and it estimates that they save between two and three million lives every year.

No vaccination is without any risks, but these are extremely small compared to the benefits they can bring.

For example side effects, such as a sore arm, can occur after a vaccine but they are usually mild. More serious side effects can happen but this is "extremely rare" according to WHO, which says "a person is far more likely to be seriously harmed by a disease than by a vaccine."

The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) union said that almost eight in 10 schools in England had been targeted by anti-vaccine groups - with most of the protesting happening online.

The ASCL also reported that around 68 out of 526 schools who qualify for the Covid vaccine programme for 12 to 15-year-olds, said they had seen demonstrators protesting outside the school, with one in five saying they had seen protestors in their local area.

There have been reports of anti-vaccine protests across Britain, including in Glasgow, Cardiff, London, Manchester, Dorset, Telford and Leicester.

BBC Health Correspondent, Jim Reed says that most protestors are focusing on targeting teachers. For example, some schools have been sent letters threatening legal action.

There are far fewer protests outside of schools than take place online, so you may not see any protests or be aware of them at all. If a protest is happening near your school, it could just mean a little longer journey in.

If you do come across a protest, it's possible that some of the leaflets and misinformation about the vaccine could be upsetting or scary.

Do tell an adult if you feel upset about what you've heard and visit the Newsround advice page for more tips.