Covid-19 jab to be offered to 5-11 year olds in England

A low dose of the Covid-19 jab will now be offered to five and 11 in England.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has updated its vaccination advice for children aged 5 to 11, saying opening up the jabs to this age group would protect the "very small" number of children who become seriously ill with Covid.

However, the roll-out will be "non-urgent", with an emphasis on parental choice.

Although this age group is generally at very low risk of serious illness from the virus, a very small number of children who get infected do develop severe disease.

Professor Wei Shen Lim, Chair of COVID-19 immunisation on the JCVI, said: "The committee has carefully considered the potential direct health impacts of vaccination and potential indirect educational impacts.

"The main purpose of offering vaccination to 5 to 11 year olds is to increase their protection against severe illness in advance of a potential future wave of COVID-19.

"Other important childhood vaccinations, such as MMR and HPV, have fallen behind due to the pandemic. It is vital these programmes continue and are not displaced by the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine to this age group."

At the beginning of February, the roll out of the vaccine to 'at-risk' 5 to 11 year olds began.