Primary school children receive the first dose of the COVID vaccine

As reported by the BBC News, young children outside of high-risk groups are now being offered the COVID jab

Thousands of children are already signed up to get a low-dose version of the vaccine.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) found immunising five to 11-year-olds could help prevent serious illness.

Mum-of-two Katie, said: “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.”

The benefits of vaccinating young children are smaller than in other age-groups as they are less likely to become severely ill with COVID.

There have been some concerns about the side effects of the vaccine side-effects. However, the government has stated that less than two children will develop inflamed heart muscle (myocarditis) out of every million vaccinated.

However, it estimates vaccinating 1m children would prevent:

• 98 hospitalisations if the next wave was severe like previous variants
• 17 hospitalisations if the next wave was mild, like Omicron

Dr Yvette Oade, regional COVID vaccination lead, has said she is “pleased” with the number of parents signing their children up to be vaccinated, which is “significant”.

“We’re trying to protect children from significant, serious illness that could happen with further waves of the virus or new variants,” Dr Oade concluded.