Covid vaccine: Children in West Yorkshire get first dose

The children are the first in their cohort who are now eligible for the vaccine, after vulnerable or high-risk children

For the first time, primary-aged children outside high-risk groups have been able to get their Covid jab.

Thousands of parents have signed their children up for the low-dose version of the vaccine.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) found immunising five to 11-year-olds could ward off serious illness for a small number.

Some families in West Yorkshire have spoken to the BBC about their decision to get their kids vaccinated.

They were getting their vaccines at the John Smith's Stadium in Huddersfield, which has been serving as a mass vaccination centre during the pandemic.

'Upset by the wait'

Mum-of-two Katie says getting her children vaccinated has been a long time coming, but feels the opportunity has come too late.

"I've been very upset about the wait. The big wave of Covid was after Christmas in primary [schools] and I believe the children should have been offered it at Christmas time," she says.

She added children in other countries, like the United States or France, were offered jabs months ago.

"I know that the vaccination gives my children protection from the worst aspects of it, serious complications of Covid, and also some protection from long Covid," she adds.

Katie brought her two children to the clinic for their vaccines

One of Katie's children, 10-year-old Sara, says she was initially "nervous" about getting jabbed, but "got over it" once she was inside the centre.

"It was like going for a normal vaccine. I think it's really important to have the Covid vaccine," she says.

Sara is one of 80 children who received a dose at the pop-up clinic on Monday.

Sara is one of 80 children who received their first Covid vaccine on Monday

Another mum, Diane, brought her son to the clinic and says she hopes her children being vaccinated will offer some kind of protection to her wider family.

"My mum's suffering with cancer at the moment, and my stepdad is recovering from it," she said.

"So it's important for us to protect them as any way we can."

She says more children testing positive for Covid in the last few months convinced her it was time to get her own son vaccinated.

'I just want them to be kids'

Fiona is taking her family on holiday and wants the extra protection from Covid provided by the vaccine.

"I just want them to be healthy," she says, as she waits with her son and daughter, who have just been jabbed.

"We're going off in August and I want them to be able to do that and be kids," she says.

She says the service at the stadium has been "fantastic", praising the nurses and staff who looked after the family.

Fiona praised the staff and nurses at the clinic

Children are at a much lower risk of becoming severely ill from a Covid infection, so the health benefits of vaccinating them are smaller than in other age-groups.

Also, many will have some protection from already having caught the virus.

Some have expressed concerns about vaccine side-effects but the full government guidance says fewer than two children will develop inflamed heart muscle (myocarditis) out of every million vaccinated.

However, it estimates vaccinating one million children would prevent:

• 98 hospitalisations if the next wave was more severe like previous variants

• 17 hospitalisations if the next wave was relatively mild, like Omicron

'Pleased with the response'

Dr Yvette Oade is the regional clinical lead for the Covid vaccination programme

Regional Covid vaccination lead Dr Yvette Oade said a "significant" number of people had signed up since bookings opened up at the weekend.

"We're pleased with the response we've had so far," she says.

By the time children turn five years old and are eligible for the Covid vaccine, they are likely to have been vaccinated against different kinds of diseases, Ms Oade says.

She hoped parents would be encouraged to bring their children forward for their jabs when old enough.

"We're trying to protect children from significant, serious illness that could happen with further waves of the virus or new variants," she adds.