All children aged five to 11 years in the UK to be offered Covid vaccine

Children between the ages of five and 11 in the UK are to be offered a Covid-19 vaccine.

The decision comes after advice by the JCVI (Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation), a group of scientists who advise the government on vaccines.

Prof Wei Shen Lim, from the JCVI, said: "The main purpose of offering vaccination to five to 11-year-olds is to increase their protection against severe illness."

Children are much less likely to get really ill from Covid, so the benefits of vaccinating this younger group are smaller compared to other age-groups.

England's Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the process of giving out the vaccine will be "non-urgent", and will be up to a child's parents or guardians to decide if they have it.

Wales were the first nation to announce they are offering vaccines to children, followed by Scotland, England and Northern Ireland.

Wales the first UK nation to offer jab to ages 11 and under

Welsh health minister Eluned Morgan announced the plans to give a vaccine to five to 11-year-olds in Wales

Announcing the plans on Tuesday, the Welsh health minister said: "I have accepted this advice and thank the JCVI," adding that they had carefully checked the science around giving the vaccine to children.

"Of course, it's likely to have been a very difficult decision for the JCVI, because generally, children have a milder [Covid] illness and fewer hospitalisations.

"But, of course, they have to balance that against the prospect of missing school," she said.

Baroness Morgan has not yet given a timetable for when the vaccine programme will start.

In recent days, about 6% of all positive Covid tests in Wales have been in the under 10s.

Latest school absence figures show 4.9% of primary-age pupils missed school for a Covid-related reason at the start of February.

The decision has been made to try and avoid children missing school

Scotland

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Scottish ministers had received and considered the same advice, recommending vaccination for all children aged five to 11, and were "content to accept it".

At the start of the year, pupil sickness absences due to Covid were at record levels in Scotland, with much of the rise in cases in primary school children.

It's hoped that giving the vaccine to younger children will reduce the spread of the virus in schools.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said parents and carers of five to 11-year-olds "need not do anything", with more information to be announced when plans are finalised.

"Discussions with health boards on the best way of delivering vaccinations to five to 11-year-olds have already begun - these will continue and we will provide further information when this approach is finalised."

England

England's Health Secretary Sajid Javid made the announcement

England's Health and Social Care Secretary, Sajid Javid, said: "The NHS will prepare to extend this non-urgent offer to all children during April so parents can, if they want, take up the offer to increase protection against potential future waves of Covid-19 as we learn to live with this virus."

He also said that children are at low risk from Covid and that the "priority remains for the NHS to offer vaccines and boosters to adults and vulnerable young people" and to catch-up with other childhood immunisation programmes".

Children aged from five to 11 who have other medical conditions that put them at greater risk, can already have the vaccine.

Northern Ireland

All five to 11-year-old children in Northern Ireland will now be offered two vaccine doses, to be given at least 12 weeks apart.

The injections will be a much smaller dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine which is now called Comirnaty.

Northern Ireland's Health Minister Robin Swann said: "As has always been the case our vaccination programme will continue to be guided by the expert advice.

"This announcement by the JCVI underlines the important role the Covid-19 vaccines plays in protecting people of all ages and has only been taken after rigorous assessment of both safety and effectiveness."

Mr Swann also said that health trusts would work with the Public Health Agency to carry out the vaccinations, and that further information about when the vaccinations will begin will be shared soon.