Children aged five to 11 can get Covid vaccine starting next week when centers stock ‘fidget toys’

The NHS will start giving Covid vaccines to healthy children aged 5 to 11 next week, using toys to distract them.

NHS England Dr Emily Lawson told MPs that vaccination centers will do everything possible to make this experience “as stress-free as possible” for children and parents.

A vaccine will be offered to all six million in this age group, the national vaccine distribution director said, but adoption will be slow and expected to continue through the spring.

Speaking to the public accounts commission yesterday, Dr. “Sites bought things like restless toys to distract them,” Lawson adds.

Children who receive the injection will receive two 10 microgram doses of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, one-third the adult dose, at least 12 weeks apart.

Dr. For groups 5 to 11 risk-free, the launch will begin next week, Lawson said.

We worked with local systems to make the most of their entrepreneurship to make the centers suitable for children ages five to eleven.

“We’ve seen great examples of sites, so they designed a vaccine town in Derby, for example, where the entire building was really redesigned and painted to be kid-friendly.

“We’ve extended the appointment time with the National Reservations Service to ensure that parents’ children have the right time to sit down and make decisions and that the children are not rushed.”

Dr. Lawson said the NHS uses focus groups and opinion polls to determine why parents feel comfortable vaccinating their children.

“I think the admission is, considering some of the lessons we’ve learned from other groups that we’re concerned about giving people time to be, it’s not going to be a quick inoculation of a cohort in a short time.”

Parents can choose whether to vaccinate their children with vaccines available at vaccination centers and pharmacies (archive image)

“This should give people a chance to stand out when they’re ready, which means these areas should be prepared to vaccinate in the spring.” Ministers accepted expert advisors’ advice to make a low-dose version of the vaccine available on a “non-emergency” basis.

Parents can decide whether or not to vaccinate their children with the vaccines available at vaccination centers and pharmacies.

The pediatric dose is one-third the strength of the adult dose after showing that the immune response of a lower dose in children aged 5 to 11 years is as good as the full dose for children aged 16 to 25 years. .

Dr. Lawson said the NHS is preparing to offer booster injections to a larger adult cohort in the fall, subject to the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization.

Authorities are also considering switching to newly formulated vaccines that could better target coronavirus variants, lawmakers have heard.