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The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised that clinically vulnerable children aged six months to four years should be offered a Covid-19 vaccine.
Although young children are generally at low risk of developing severe illness from Covid-19, infants and young children who have underlying medical conditions are over seven times more likely to be admitted to paediatric intensive care units.
In the UK, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) first authorised use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children aged six months to four years on 6 December 2022. The JCVI does not currently advise Covid-19 vaccination of children aged six months to four years who are not in a clinical risk group.
Eligible children should be offered two doses of the vaccine, with an interval of 8 to 12 weeks between the first and second doses. NHS England will be offering vaccinations from mid-June.
Dr Mary Ramsay, Head of Immunisation at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said: “Covid-19 is still in circulation, with thousands of new cases reported every week. The extra protection offered by the vaccine could be important for young children in clinical risk groups, who are at greater risk of severe illness. The virus is not going away so I would encourage all parents to bring their child forward if they are eligible. Parents should wait to be contacted by their local health professionals.”