Covid jabs: Why families are taking their children for a Covid vaccine

Chester said the nurses were kind and helped reassure him

The latest roll-out of Covid jabs has extended the programme to all children aged between five and 11. BBC News talks to some of the first families who got the dose.

Low-dose Covid vaccines for children were made available to families at hundreds of sites across England this week.

He said having the vaccination made his worries go

Previously, only young children with conditions that put them at increased risk from Covid, or who lived with people with weakened immune systems were offered jabs.

The move to offer the dose more widely was welcomed by families in Derbyshire, where children were attending after-school appointments at Midland House in Derby this week.

Grant said he had booked his son straight in for the jab

Booked into the first slot was Chester, aged nine, from Long Eaton, who was attending his appointment with his father Grant.

He said: "The nurses were very kind and made it feel a lot better and made my worries go.

"It was a lot more simple and I had a lot less pain than I thought I was going to have."

Suday, aged seven, was getting a vaccination alongside his sister

Grant, who runs a travel business, said: "My older daughter is 12 and she's had both jabs.

"As soon as the appointments opened on Saturday, we booked him straight in.

"He was dead keen to get it done as well."

Siya, aged ten, from Derby, was getting her vaccination along with her little brother Suday, aged seven.

She said: "I was nervous at first and I've had vaccinations in the past and it hurt a bit, but today it was one little prick and it was over."

Siya said the vaccination was over quickly

The children's mum Lakshmi said: "Having obviously gone through the information that's out there, the pros and cons, and also the data that we have, like how serious infections can be for kids, or not, we just felt it was the right thing to do."

Children at Midland House were being given the Pfizer vaccine. There are two doses, given 12 weeks apart.

The children's vaccination area is separate to the adults' section, with play areas and extra staff to support children.

Lakshmi said she felt getting the children vaccinated was the right thing to do

Parents and guardians of eligible children will be sent invitations from the NHS in the next few weeks.

Officials are estimating that a record 4.9 million people in the UK have the virus - up from 4.3 million the week before.

In general, most children are not at high risk of becoming severely ill from Covid.

In February, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation said vaccines should go ahead to prevent "a very small number of children from serious illness and hospitalisation" in a future wave of Covid.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland already offer the jabs.

Dr Petra Staley, from Derbyshire Community Health Services, said: "It's important for children to get vaccinated.

"It's important for their own health, it's important for the community, for elderly relatives and it's also important for their schooling, going forwards."