THREE times the proportion of younger teens have been vaccinated in Scotland than in England, according to official figures.

Programmes to start giving the jags to 12 to 15 year olds began in both countries on September 20.

But since just one in nine (11.5%) of this age group has been jagged in England, compared to a third in Scotland.

Experts say the slow speed of rollout of vaccines to English schoolchildren is being hampered by several factors – most notably the decision to deliver the jabs exclusively via schools rather than walk-in vaccine centres – which are available in some health boards in Scotland.

READ MORE: Covid in Scotland: More than a third of 12 to 15-year-olds get vaccine

Professor Devi Sridhar, at the University of Edinburgh, told the Sunday Telegraph: "I think the first thing is the messaging hasn’t been great in England, and I think a lot of parents and teachers are confused about whether their children actually need the vaccine."

In places such as Portugal, Denmark and Scotland the messaging to children and parents had been clear, she said, but in England “it’s been very confusing because of the multitude of voices”.

Sridhar added: “I think also here in Scotland we've focused more on providing clinics where children can access them – so drop-in clinics and [mobile] buses at the weekend, for instance”.

READ MORE: Audit Scotland reveals cost of 'successful' Covid vaccine roll-out

In England, where vaccination of 12-15-year-olds is focused almost exclusively on schools, high infection rates are slowing the process with over 200,000 children off school with Covid and many nursing staff also isolating.

Professor Calum Semple, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), told the BBC there was a risk some children would be unnecessarily harmed because of the slow pace of vaccination in England.

“It's ridiculous to aim for herd immunity using natural wild-type infection because that brings with it disease and damage to children both from acute disease and potentially long Covid”, he said.

Semple added that while it was “disappointing” that only 40%  of parents had given their approval for their children to be vaccinated in some schools it was perhaps not surprising as parental approval rates only stood at just 60%  for the flu vaccine.

“It will take time for confidence to build amongst many parents, when, after all, they have seen a very cautious approach been taken by British policymakers”, he said.

The professor added that he would like to see greater choice offered as to where children were able to access their jabs, as in Scotland and much of Europe.

“I can't step on the toes of the policymakers [but] I do think some flexibility would be great. And I'm sure there are people thinking about it”, he said.

Experts are now warning that the slow pace in England risks the health of schoolchildren and older family members and could cause a further spike in coronavirus cases.

Ministers had hoped to complete vaccination of the 12- to 15-year-old age cohort by the half-term break but this now looks very unlikely in England.