Thousands more Brits will be able to get Covid vaccines from NEXT WEEK in big change
THOUSANDS more Brits are set to get their Covid vaccines from next week.
The NHS has dished out life-saving jabs to millions amid a record-breaking rollout throughout the pandemic.
All over-18s and some vulnerable teens have been offered their second doses and boosters to beat back the Omicron wave.
Now, from Monday vulnerable five to 11 year olds can have their first jab to protect against Covid.
The decision was made to give vaccines to the select group of youngsters in December, with the NHS working to get ready for the rollout.
Children can't have the same dose size as adults, and so special equipment has been brought in for GPs to use throughout the country.
NHS England gave medics until the end of January to be ready for the next stage in the rollout.
From next week selected kids, around 330,000, will get two doses of a smaller amount of vaccine, with a gap of eight weeks between each injection.
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Experts stopped short of recommending jabs for all five to 11-year-olds - saying only the clinically vulnerable and those who are a household contact of someone who is immunosuppressed are eligible at the moment.
The timeline could vary slightly in different areas of England, depending on availability of the specialised equipment, so parents should wait to be contacted by their GP or local NHS group.
An NHS spokesperson said: “The NHS is on course to roll out paediatric doses of the vaccine to children aged five to 11 who are either at risk or household contacts of immunosuppressed contacts this month, as set out in a system letter that was issued 24 hours after the JCVI published guidance for this group.”
Some vaccinations in kids have already begun at GP surgeries if they have the paediatric equipment, but these are termed "off-label".
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Scotland started giving out the doses for kids this week, with England set to follow next week.
It comes as a string of positive studies showed Omicron is milder than other strains, especially in the vaccinated.
Covid booster jabs protect against Omicron and offer the best chance to get through the pandemic, health officials have repeatedly said.
Professor Wei Shen Lim, Chair of the JCVI's Covid-19 immunisation committee, said: “The majority of children aged five to 11 are at very low risk of serious illness due to Covid-19.
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"However, some five to 11-year-olds have underlying health conditions that put them at higher risk, and we advise these children to be vaccinated in the first instance.
“For children and young people who have completed a primary course of vaccination, a booster dose will provide added protection against the Omicron variant.”
The latest data showed that children over five years old saw the same levels of antibodies as teens over 16, post vaccination.
For adults, a booster shot is the best protection against Omicron, with data suggesting it pushes efficacy back up to 75 per cent.
Dr June Raine, Chief Executive, said: “Parents and carers can be reassured that no new vaccine for children would have been approved unless the expected standards of safety, quality and effectiveness have been met.
“We have concluded that the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine is safe and effective for 5 to 11-year-olds, with no new safety concerns identified.
"We have carefully considered all the available data and reached the decision that there is robust evidence to support a positive benefit risk for children in this age group."
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She added side effects in younger children appear to be largely mild, with sore arms or flu-like illnesses.
To find out if your child is within these at risk groups, check their condition within the but the NHS will also get in touch.