A FORMER chief scientific advisor to the Government has said that they should roll out the vaccination programme for over-12s and rethink the policy on masks in schools.

Sir David King,  who is also chair of the Independent Sage Group, also questioned whether the Government was pressing ahead with a “herd immunity policy” among teenagers.

He told Sky News: “The Pfizer vaccine has already been given the green light in this country to over 12-year-olds. I think we should run that programme forward quickly.

“But we’re opening schools today and the Government has said 12 to 18-year-olds no longer need to wear face masks at school – I don’t think that was a wise thing to do and I do hope the Government will rethink this in the light of the current figures.”

Sir David added: “Let me ask you, if I may, to ask the Government, are they actually believing in herd immunity amongst school children?

“Is that why they’re saying, ‘take masks off it’, so that the disease spreads rapidly and they all become immune by having had the disease?

“If that is a policy, shouldn’t we be honest with the public, and tell us that is the policy?

“I believe that herd immunity was the policy from the beginning back in February, March last year, so have we returned to that now with the high vaccination level?”