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All children between the ages of five and 11 are to be offered two doses of the covid-19 vaccine.
The vaccine was previously offered to children aged 5 to 11 who are at increased clinical risk, but this is the first time the vaccine will be offered to all children of that age.
The States said yesterday that parents would receive letters "in due course" inviting their children to have two doses of the vaccine at least 12 weeks apart.
Their decision is consistent with advice issued by the UK's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on 16 February to provide a non-urgent offer of two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech covid-19 vaccine to children aged five to 11 years who are not in a clinical risk group.
Pictured: The Community Vaccination Centre is remaining at Beau Sejour but this week it will be moved from the Sir John Loveridge Hall to the smaller Cambridge and Delancey meeting rooms.
Announcing the vaccine offer to younger children, Deputy Al Brouard, President of the Committee for Health & Social Care, pictured top, said: ‘Whenever our Committee has received advice about the option of offering the vaccine to young people, we have always given it very careful consideration.
"We have always sought to align our vaccination programme with the advice of the JCVI and, following a review of its latest guidance on offering the vaccine for five to 11 year olds, we took the decision that we would again align.
"When we send out invitation letters, we always ensure they contain relevant information to help support healthy discussions between parents and their children before they make whatever decision is right for them."
Spring boosters for most vulnerable
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