Children aged five to 11 to begin receiving Covid-19 vaccines from Monday
Children aged five to 11 will be able to get their first Covid-19 vaccine dose from tomorrow, as the NSW Premier scrambles to work out a safe back to school plan.
Australian children aged five to 11 will be eligible for their first Covid-19 vaccine dose from tomorrow, January 10.
It comes amid concerns at sending children back to school unvaccinated during the growing pandemic.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has confirmed the vaccine rollout date for children is on track.
“As of tomorrow we will be rolling out vaccinations for children aged between five and 11,” Mr Perrottet said in a press conference on Sunday.
“Many people have made those bookings and that is key as we move through this next phase.”
Meanwhile, federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said there will be plenty of vaccines available for the age group despite concerns about shortages.
“Tomorrow the national children’s program for five- to 11-year olds begins,” Mr Hunt said.
“We have approximately two million doses that are available over the course of the coming weeks and then that will be supplemented by an additional million … for a population of 2.3 million children.
“So we want to encourage all parents to bring their children forward over the period between now and the end of January to protect them and to help protect the community with the vaccinations.”
Mr Perrottet also addressed concerns at sending children back to school for term one, saying the government is working on a plan to keep everyone safe.
He said the government has been developing a back to school plan with NSW Health and the Department of Education, however he admitted it won’t be smooth sailing.
“There will be bumps in the road,” he said.
“It’s not going to be perfect. Our number one priority is to keep kids and parents safe. There will be challenges, there will be hurdles that come forward for us as we open up schools but the alternative is to keep schools closed and we won’t do that.”
He said staffing was a core issue.
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