Parents can sign children as young as 5 up for Covid jabs within WEEKS amid rising infections
- Comes after the JCVI advised last month that healthy children should be offered vaccine on ‘non-urgent’ basis
- The rollout will involve special ‘paediatric formulation’ for young children
- They will receive a lower dose of the vaccine and be given jabs 12 weeks apart
Parents will be able to sign up for jabs for their five to 11-year-olds in weeks amid a rise in Covid infections.
It comes after the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advised last month that healthy children in this age range should be offered a vaccine on a ‘non-urgent’ basis.
The rollout, which is expected next month, will involve a special ‘paediatric formulation’ for young children, who will receive a lower dose of the vaccine, and be given two jabs 12 weeks apart.
It comes after the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advised last month that healthy children in this age range should be offered a vaccine on a ‘non-urgent’ basis (stock image)
Among at-risk children, who already receive the jab, adverse reactions are extremely rare. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said ‘it is a very safe vaccine’.
Covid infections continue to rise, with levels in England similar to those seen at the start of February and record cases in Scotland.
A fourth booster jab for over-75s, care-home residents and over-12s with weak immune systems starts next week.
Across the UK, 3.3 million were estimated to have had coronavirus last week, up from 2.6 million the previous week. The numbers in hospital with the virus has also risen, to 14,671.
The rapid rise of the BA.2 variant – a more infectious sub-strain of Omicron – is driving the high levels.
Professor James Naismith, of Oxford University, described the latest figures as a ‘sharp uptick’.
The rollout, which is expected next month, will involve a special ‘paediatric formulation’ for young children, who will receive a lower dose of the vaccine, and be given two jabs 12 weeks apart (stock image)
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