The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) have advised clinically vulnerable children to be offered a COVID-19 vaccine.
Children aged 6 months to 4 years with underlying medical conditions should be offered the jab according to the JCVI as they are seven times more likely to be admitted to paediatric intensive care units.
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Professor Wei Shen Lim, chair of the JCVI’s COVID-19 Committee said: ‘For the vast majority of infants and children, COVID-19 causes only mild symptoms, or sometimes no symptoms.
‘However, for a small group of children with pre-existing health conditions it can lead to more serious illness and, for them, vaccination is the best way to increase their protection.’
It has been advised for eligible children to be offered two doses of the vaccine with an interval of eight to 12 weeks between the first and second dose.
NHS England have confirmed they will offer these vaccinations from mid-June.
Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunisation at the UK Health Security Agency encouraged parents to bring their children forward for the vaccine if they are eligible.
She 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.’
Over one million children of the same age group in the US were offered at least one does of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine since June 2022.
Data from the US showed side effects reported were similar to those seen with other vaccines given in this age group such as irritability or crying, sleepiness and fever.