Covid vaccine for children in Kent and Medway opened to clinically vulnerable youngsters as walk-in clinics open for 16 and 17 year olds
18:20, 27 August 2021
updated: 18:54, 27 August 2021
Younger children and teenagers at higher risk of becoming seriously ill from Covid are being offered vaccines in the latest expansion of the programme in Kent.
The NHS is striving to jab all clinically vulnerable children aged between 12 and 15 as well as 16 and 17 year olds before the new school year.
Those in the youngest cohort who live with someone on immunosuppressant medication are also being invited to come forward – including those receiving chemotherapy or transplant patients.
The NHS in Kent and Medway is now offering the jab to the youngest groups, which will be administered by GPs.
Eligible children will be written to in the coming days and weeks to be called forward for the Pfizer jab.
This includes children with Down's syndrome, who are undergoing cancer treatment, organ or bone marrow transplant recipients or those on the learning disability register.
The scheme aims to offer the vaccine to all children and young people in the new eligibility categories by the start on the new school year.
Teens aged 16 and 17 will soon be able to book appointments via the national booking service or use walk-in centres – but not all centres will be able to cater for walk-ins for those under 18.
Patients and parents have been advised to check before arriving at walk-in sites.
Anyone within three months of turning 18 is now also able to book via the national booking service online.
It comes as latest figures showed infection rates across the UK increased heading into the Bank Holiday weekend.
Scientists have warned the return to school next month will lead to increased transmission and cases with experts saying it will be crucial to see how this translates into serious illness, hospital admissions and deaths.
And parents are concerned about having no say on whether their children are jabbed following confusion over the roll-out.
There have been suggestions all 12 to 15 year olds, regardless of their health, should be offered the jab to combat the surge of cases in schools, but education secretary said no decision has been made and "consent would always be sought".
Further information about who can receive their vaccination and where to receive them, including walk-in centres open to under 18s, is available via the Kent and Medway CCG website.
