Health Minister Eluned Morgan: All 5 to 11 years olds in Wales to be offered Covid jabs

All children in Wales aged five to 11 are to be offered Covid vaccinations, health minister Eluned Morgan has announced.

Speaking to the Welsh Parliament this afternoon, Ms Morgan said there said the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has yet to publish its report in relation to vaccination of children but “I have seen a copy of that advice and we will be commencing the roll-out of vaccinations for five to 11-year-olds.”

Ms Morgan said: “It is likely to have been a very difficult decision for the JCVI, because generally, children have a milder illness and fewer hospitalisations, but, of course, they have to balance that against the prospect of missing school.”

“So, we have to consider very different issues when it comes to the vaccination of children as young as five years old, of course, so we’ll be in a position where we will expect those children to be accompanied by an adult. ”

We accept JCVI’s advice to offer COVID vaccines to all 5-11 year olds and will work with health boards to implement.

We encourage parents/guardians to see @PublicHealthW‘s site for info, and discuss with your children.

We’ll provide more info when JCVI’s advice is published. pic.twitter.com/CieNALYOgD

— Welsh Government 🏳️‍🌈 (@WelshGovernment) February 15, 2022

She said: “There will be a need for informed consent, but there will be an opportunity for siblings, for example, to be brought at the same time.”

“Most of this will be done—in fact, all of it will be done in health centres rather than in schools.”

Ms Morgan continued:  “In terms of the timetable for five to 11-year-olds, we’re obviously waiting for that formal advice to come from the JCVI”

“I’m not quite sure what’s holding it up. We know that it’s available, and it’s important that we are able to forge ahead with our plans.”

“Obviously, we thought that this might be coming our way, so a huge amount of preparation work has already been undertaken, but we can’t really press the button finally on it until we have that final JCVI publication that we’re hoping to see imminently.”

A spokesperson for Betsi Cadwaladr Univesity Health Board said: