Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to help ensure accurate information is available to clinicians regarding vaccinations for children aged 5 to 11 who are in a clinical risk group or who are a household contact of someone who is immunosuppressed.

NHS England and NHS Improvement are preparing the offer of COVID-19 vaccines to all children aged five to 11 years old who are in a clinical risk group, or who are a household contact of someone who is immunosuppressed, in line with advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). Deployment will begin by the end of January 2022. Eligible children and their parents will be contacted by the National Health Service locally and offered an appointment. For the household contacts of the immunosuppressed, general practitioners (GPs) will contacting the immunosuppressed person to advise that their child is eligible.

All GP teams and hospital consultants have been asked to identify five to 11 year olds who fall into the categories outlined in the JCVI’s advice. The latest guidance sent to all relevant NHS clinicians on the initial steps of vaccinating this cohort is available at the following link:

C1524-updated-jvci-advice-for-the-vaccination-of-children-and-young-people.pdf (england.nhs.uk)