All 5 to 11 years olds in Wales to be offered Covid jabs, says health minister

All children in Wales aged five to 11 are to be offered Covid vaccinations, health minister Eluned Morgan has announced.

Speaking to the Welsh Parliament this afternoon, Ms Morgan said there said the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has yet to publish its report in relation to vaccination of children but “I have seen a copy of that advice and we will be commencing the roll-out of vaccinations for five to 11-year-olds.”

Ms Morgan said: “It is likely to have been a very difficult decision for the JCVI, because generally, children have a milder illness and fewer hospitalisations, but, of course, they have to balance that against the prospect of missing school.”

“So, we have to consider very different issues when it comes to the vaccination of children as young as five years old, of course, so we’ll be in a position where we will expect those children to be accompanied by an adult. ”

We accept JCVI’s advice to offer COVID vaccines to all 5-11 year olds and will work with health boards to implement.

We encourage parents/guardians to see @PublicHealthW‘s site for info, and discuss with your children.

We’ll provide more info when JCVI’s advice is published. pic.twitter.com/CieNALYOgD

— Welsh Government 🏳️‍🌈 (@WelshGovernment) February 15, 2022

She said: “There will be a need for informed consent, but there will be an opportunity for siblings, for example, to be brought at the same time.”

“Most of this will be done—in fact, all of it will be done in health centres rather than in schools.”

In a written statement released this evening, Ms Morgan: “I have received the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation’s (JCVI) final advice about Covid-19 vaccination for children aged five to 11 who are not considered to be at clinical risk.

“Children in this age group who are classed as being at clinical risk are already being offered the vaccine and more than one in four have already taken up the offer of vaccination.

“The JCVI advice will be published in due course. I have accepted this advice and thank the JCVI for scrutinising the science and evidence and setting out its advice in a careful and considered way.

“Our intention, as it has been from the start of the pandemic, is to follow the clinical and scientific evidence.

“In accepting this advice, I will be asking the health boards to consider carefully the issue of equity within their operational planning. We will work closely with Public Health Wales and the health boards to ensure there is age-appropriate factual and trusted information about the potential benefits and risks of vaccination for this age range.

“I would encourage all families with children between the ages of five and 11, who are not in any clinical at risk groups, to visit the Public Health Wales website for information about vaccination and to begin a conversation about whether they want to take up this offer.

“We will be publishing an update of our Vaccination Strategy next week, which will set out further detail about the offer, once the JCVI advice is published.

“Vaccination is the most important thing we can do to protect ourselves and our children against ill health. They prevent up to three million deaths worldwide every year.”

A spokesperson for Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board said: “We are awaiting further guidance from the JCVI and Welsh Government on the timetable to begin offering the COVID-19 vaccine to all five to 11-year olds, and will provide an update on this as soon as we are able to.”

“Information from Public Health Wales to help parents and children make an informed decision about vaccination will also follow in due course.”