Kids will get Covid vaccines at walk-in centres during half-term, Sajid Javid confirms

KIDS are set to get their coronavirus vaccines at walk-in centres during the half-term break, the Health Secretary has confirmed.

Up until now kids have been having their jabs mostly at educational settings.

Children between the ages of 12 and 15 will now be able to use the national booking site – the same way as adults have been using the portal for the last 11 months.

Sajid Javid told MPs the that the government is 'ramping up' the vaccination programme.

He stated: "To make the most of half-term next week, we will now be opening up the national booking service to all 12 to 15-year-olds to have their Covid vaccinations in existing national vaccination centres, which will offer families more flexibility.

"I think it is important that anyone who is invited as eligible for a vaccine, including young people, that they do come forward and take up that offer."

NHS chief Amanda Pritchard confirmed the plans today,but highlighted that there are a 'number of challenges to vaccinating 12 to 15 year olds at scale and at pace'.

Today speaking at her first hearing before MPs she said the NHS has a 'plan to deal' with various struggles that might arise when vaccinating youngsters.

Pritchard said they would look in particular at 'misinformation from anti-vaxxers' as well as addressing concerns from parents.

Kids across the country started to receive their vaccines on September 20, with jabs being delivered primarily through schools up and down the country.

Kids getting their vaccines will receive a single dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

In Scotland kids were able to go to drop-in clinics or wait for a letter offering them a scheduled appointment.

So far across the UK 49.4 million Brits have received a first dose of the vaccine, with 45.3 million having now also had a second.

Booster vaccinations are also currently being rolled out to the most vulnerable in society in order to protect them as we head into the winter months.

However experts have already warned that the rollout is going to slow and that those in need won't all have had their jabs by January.

As it stands around 3.7 million of the 8.3 million eligible Brits have so far had their booster shots.

TOP UP

Professor Neil Ferguson, from Imperial College London today said teenagers need to have two shots to block infection and spread of the virus.

At present teens are only being given one dose.

It comes after cases have hit their highest level in three months, and a cabinet minister said jabs are the key to avoiding Covid restrictions this winter.

Trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan urged Brits to come forward for top up shots and help keep the "new normal" in place.

Her remarks come amid growing fears the slow rollout of third doses will leave the UK vulnerable to a third wave.

There are concerns that immunity amongst those who first received the vaccine at the start of the year is now waning.

We pay for your stories!

Do you have a story for The Sun news desk?

Email us at [email protected] or call 02077824104. You can WhatsApp us on 07423 720 250. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours

Click here to get The Sun newspaper delivered for FREE for the next six weeks.

    Source: Read Full Article

    Previous post Knights Templar’s ‘sinister’ ritual for initiates involving decapitated head
    Next post 9 Best Christmas baby outfits to buy in 2021