Children aged 5 -11 who are in a clinical risk group or who live with someone who is in immunosuppressed can now get the first dose of the COVID vaccine in line with advice set out by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). There are around 500,000 eligible children in the latest cohort across England.
Eligible children include those with diabetes, immunosuppression, learning disabilities, and other conditions as outlined by the UK Health Security Agency in the Green Book.
Parents and guardians should wait for the NHS to contact them for when it is their child’s turn to get the life-saving vaccine with local NHS teams already contacting those who are eligible.
GP led teams have been identifying eligible children ahead of vaccinations starting to help get jabs into arms as quickly as possible. All eligible 5-11 year olds will be offered two 10 microgram doses of the Pfizer vaccine eight weeks apart – a third of the amount used for adult vaccinations.
GP and deputy lead for NHS vaccination programme Dr Nikki Kanani, said:
“We know vaccines give significant protection against severe illness from COVID – including the omicron variant, so it is important that our youngest and most at-risk get protected.
“The NHS is now vaccinating the most at risk 5-11 year olds ensuring they get their vital dose of protection.
“Thousands of young people are still getting protected every day with millions vaccinated so far and we are asking parents not to delay coming forward – as soon as the NHS contacts you, please come forward so the NHS can protect their youngest against the virus”.
If you wish to know more about this, please visit the NHS National Booking System website available at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/book-coronavirus-vaccination/
Alternatively, you can contact the NHS Covid-19 phone line by dialling 119.
Frequently Asked Questions
The government.uk website has lots of useful FAQs, which you can find from around half way down the page.
Resources
- A guide for parents of children aged 5 to 11
- COVID-19 vaccination: an easy red leaflet for at-risk children and young people aged 5-11
- Resources for eligible children and young people
- Public Health England COVID-19 vaccination guide for children and young people
- Easy read resources for eligible children and young people
- COVID-19 vaccination programme for young people: guidance for parents
- Resources for schools and parents