COVID-19 vaccination for children and young people

Children at higher risk of severe COVID-19

• Children and young people aged 5 to 11 years who are in recognised risk groups should receive two doses of the paediatric dose (10μg) of Pfizer BioNTech vaccine at an interval of at least eight weeks.

Children aged 5-11 years who are contacts of immunosuppressed individuals

• Individuals aged 5-11 years who expect to share living accommodation on most days (and therefore for whom continuing close contact is unavoidable) with individuals of any age who are immunosuppressed should be offered two doses of the paediatric dose (10µg) of Pfizer BioNTech vaccine at an interval of at least eight weeks.

Other children aged 5-11 years

• In February 2022, the JCVI advised a one-off, non-urgent programme to offer vaccination to all children aged five to 11 years of age who are not in a clinical risk group.
• Two doses of the paediatric vaccineshould be offered with an interval of at least 12 weeks between doses.
• This one-off programme applies to those currently aged 5 to 11, and children will continue to become eligible as they turn five years of age until the end of August 2022.

Children and young poeple at higher risk of severe COVID-19

• Children and young people aged 12 to 15 years who are in in a recognised risk group (as outlined in the green book) should receive two doses of Pfizer BioNTech vaccine at an interval of at least eight weeks.

Indviduals aged 12-15 years who are contacts of immunosuppressed individuals

• Those aged 12 years and above who expect to share living accommodation on most days (and therefore for whom continuing close contact is unavoidable) with individuals of any age who are immunosuppressed should be offered two doses of vaccine eight weeks apart.

Other children and young people aged 12-15 years

• The Chief Medical Officers have recommended that all young people aged 12 to 15 can receive their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
• JCVI have now advised that a second dose of vaccine should be offered after an interval of 12 weeks.
  

• JCVI advises that a third vaccine dose be offered to individuals aged 12 years and over who had severe immunosuppression in proximity to their first or second COVID-19 doses in the primary schedule.
• Those aged 12 years and above in this group will also require booster doses, in line with the rest of the eligible population, to extend protection from their primary course. Following the recognition of the Omicron variant in South Africa, JCVI advised that the first reinforcing dose should be offered from three months after the third primary dose. Individuals in this group are also eligible for the spring booster dose.
• Individuals who completed primary vaccination later, and so received their first booster (fourth dose) during the spring campaign, do not need an additional spring dose but are expected to next become eligible during the autumn booster campaign.

• JCVI advises that a third vaccine dose be offered to individuals aged 5-11 years who had severe immunosuppression in proximity to their first or second COVID-19 doses in the primary schedule.
• The third dose should be given ideally at least 8 weeks after the second dose, with special attention paid to current or planned immunosuppressive therapies.
  
• As this group have only recently become eligible for immunisation, advice on boosters for this group is still under review by JCVI.