SCOTLAND striker Lawrence Shankland has called the Scottish Government's decision to roll out Covid vaccines for children 'madness' as the 26-year-old told parents they should be held '100 per cent accountable' for any illnesses their kids pick up as a result.

Holyrood announced on Wednesday afternoon that after receiving advice from the UK's Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), coronavirus jags would soon be made available to children between the ages of five and 11.

The Scottish and Welsh governments have approved the roll-out having seen draft guidance, with the JCVI making the recommendation to protect a "very small number of children from serious illness and hospitalisation" in the event of a future outbreak.

Former Aberdeen, Queen's Park and Dundee United striker Shankland - now on the books at Belgian top-flight outfit Beerschot - has taken to social media to criticise the decision as he incorrectly argued that it was based on 'absolutely no data'.

Shankland posted on Twitter: "If you take your kids for this and they get an illness due to it you should 100% be held accountable.

"There’s absolutely no data to even begin to suggest that kids need this vaccine or what the effect it could have on them. Madness."