Hello and welcome to more or less on the BBC World Service,

with a programme that writes,

don't panic in large, friendly letters all over suspicious statistical claims,

and I'm Tim Halford.

The COVID pandemic has required some difficult balancing acts,

weighing the risks and benefits of different courses of action,

hopefully based on the very best data.

The challenge has been especially fraught in the case of children.

Should they be kept out of school?

Should they wear face masks?

Should they be vaccinated?

How much of a risk is COVID to them anyway?

The governments for all the UK's four nations have just announced

that COVID vaccines will be offered to all children

between the ages of five and twelve,

some months after countries such as Italy and Germany.

Previously in the UK only children aged over five with medical conditions

that make them more vulnerable to COVID-19 have been given the jab.

It's a topic that's caused a fair amount of controversy.

In England, a recent claim caught people's attention.

One in 100 children who catch COVID-19 get sick enough with the disease to be admitted to hospital.

This seems to have come from data published by British campaigning charity Long COVID Kids,

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