Guernsey to offer Covid booster jabs to 16 and 17 year olds

Guernsey's 16 to 17 year olds will be offered a Covid booster vaccination three months after their second jab

All 16 and 17 year olds in Guernsey will be offered a booster dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine.

The move brings the Bailiwick in line with the UK, following advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

Third jabs will be offered three months after the second dose, the Committee for Health and Social Care (HSC) said.

The group's president, Deputy Al Brouard, said the decision had been made after "careful consideration".

He said: "Children, young people and their parents need to be supported in having appropriate conversations about whether to take up this offer, and we always ensure the invitation letters contain relevant information to help support those discussions."

Third jabs will also be offered to 12 to 15 year olds who are in a clinical risk group or who are a household contact of someone who is immunosuppressed, the HSC said.

It has not yet been three months since the majority of 12 to 15 year olds had their second jabs but invitations will be sent out as soon as they become eligible, the committee added.

Fourth jabs will be available for severely immunosuppressed 12 to 15 year olds who have had a third dose of the vaccine, it said.

The JCVI recommends that children aged five to 11 who are in a clinical risk group, or who are a household contact of someone who is immunosuppressed, should be offered two doses of the Pfizer vaccine eight weeks apart.

The HSC said its clinical teams were working on preparations to offer the vaccine to this group. Parents and carers of children who meet the criteria will be notified directly in two weeks.

Further information will be published on the vaccination section of the States of Guernsey's Covid website soon.