Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the School Aged Immunisation Service will be involved in the vaccination of five to 11 year olds against covid-19; and what additional resources he plans to provide to ensure the effectiveness of the programme.

On 16 February 2022, the government accepted advice from the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to make a non-urgent offer of COVID-19 vaccinations to all children aged 5 to 11 in England. The NHS will prepare to extend the non-urgent offer of COVID-19 vaccination to children aged 5 to 11 during April so parents can, if they want, take up the offer to increase protection against potential future waves of COVID-19 as we learn to live with this virus.

The system letter, published on 18 February by the NHS, confirms that community pharmacy-led local vaccination services and centres should be the primary delivery models for this cohort. This letter can be found here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/publication/updated-jcvi-advice-for-vaccinating-5-to-11-year-olds/.

The NHS is also currently offering vaccinations to at-risk children and those who live with immunosuppressed people in this age group. Parents and guardians of at-risk children aged 5 to 11 should wait for the NHS to contact them, with local NHS teams already contacting those who are eligible.