CHILDREN with underlying conditions will start to get Covid-19 vaccines from next week with jabs rolled out to all kids aged between five and 11 from January 10, the Taoiseach has revealed.
It comes as the HSE tonight launched a new campaign to provide parents with full information about the vaccine before they book their child in for the jab.
Earlier this month, the National Immunisation Advisory Committee ruled that special lower dose Pfizer vaccines are safe to administer to children aged five to 11.
In an interview on RTE this evening, the Taoiseach revealed that the Covid vaccination campaign will open for all children from January 10.
He said: “The HSE will on the week commencing the 20th of December start vaccinating high risk children. That’s the high priority that was given by NIAC.
“And the major cohort will be in January from about the 10th of January onwards.”
The HSE tonight launched a new information campaign about children’s vaccine with a detailed frequently asked question section placed on the health service’s website.
The child’s vaccine will be prioritised for kids with underlying health conditions and those who live with someone who is immunocompromised.
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The HSE said their aim in offering the vaccine to all children is “is to protect people and reduce the illness and deaths caused by this virus.”
Director of the National Immunisation Office Dr Lucy Jessop said: “Registration for the vaccine will open shortly, with priority being placed on children who are more at risk from Covid-19.
“The vaccine is particularly recommended for children who have a health condition that puts them at higher risk of severe illness from Covid-19, or if they live with a child or an adult who has complex medical needs or is immunocompromised.”
“For all other children in this age group, severe illness from Covid-19 is rare, but it can happen.
“The recommendation is that the benefits of vaccination are greater than the risks from the vaccine. The benefits include avoiding getting Covid-19, and extra protection from the rare risks of serious illness from Covid-19.”
BOOSTER CAMPAIGN EXPANSION
It comes as Health Minister Stephen Donnelly today updated Cabinet on plans to see the HSE hit 250,000 vaccines administered per week from next week on.
In a bid to accelerate the roll out of the booster vaccine due to fears about the Omicron variant, the Defence Forces will also be deployed to help set up additional vaccine centres across the country.
Staff from the health service along with civil servants from other areas will be redeployed temporarily to work on the vaccine roll out.
The opening hours of vaccine centres will be extended from 8am to 8pm with major new jab centres opened in the coming weeks.
NEW VACCINE CENTRES
New centres are due to be opened in Richmond Barracks and the RDS in Dublin later this month along with a major centre in Cork city.
The Government is also in talks with industry representatives to double the number of pharmacies offering the vaccine and increase the number of GPs who will administer the jab at their surgeries.
It comes as the HSE will now be administering booster vaccines to people three months after they received their second dose.
New advice from NIAC cut the wait time between jabs from five months to three months.