COVID-19 and flu vaccination 2022 to 2023: child rights and wellbeing impact assessment

3. Will there be different impacts on different groups of children and young people?

The offer of vaccination for children and young people is determined by the advice we receive from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The type of vaccine a young person will be offered and the number of doses they receive will depend on their age and health condition as detailed below. Our vaccination policy affects all children aged 5 to 17 years.

For winter 2022, the following groups of children and young people will be offered a COVID-19 booster vaccination:

• Any young staff up to the age of 18 working in care homes for older adults
• Any frontline health and social care workers (including students) up to the age of 18
• Persons aged 5 to 18 years in a clinical risk group
• Persons aged 5 to 18 years who are household contacts of people with immunosuppression
• Young carers aged 16-18

We will also continue our “rolling offer” to all children and young people, so if anyone has previously missed a dose, or declined one, they can still come forward for the doses they are eligible for. (Please note that as of June 2023 the above offer is no longer available.)

The only offer that has ended was the time-limited two dose primary course for healthy 5-11 year olds. JCVI and Green Book Chapter advice, and our subsequent CMO letter, stated that this offer would be for those who turned 5 up until 31 August 2022. The offer remained open for all those who turned 5 before this date.

Over the course of the pandemic, through a combination of vaccine-induced immunity and immunity generated following natural infection (natural immunity), large proportions of the UK population have developed at least partial immunity against COVID-19. As the UK transitions from a period of pandemic emergency response to pandemic recovery, the focus will increasingly be on protecting those in society who continue to be more at risk of severe COVID-19. The data shows that COVID-19 disproportionately effects those in older age groups and those with certain underlying health conditions, particularly those who are severely immunosuppressed. This is why the spring and autumn campaigns in 2022 have focussed on children and young people with clinical conditions.

For autumn 2022, the MHRA and JCVI have authorised the use of new bivalent vaccines that target the original COVID-19 strains and Omicron BA1. The Pfizer Comirnaty bivalent is available for all those over the age of 12, giving them the best current protection possible. Those aged 5-11 will receive Pfizer Comirnaty 10mg original vaccine. Although this vaccine doesn’t specifically target Omicron BA1, it still provides an excellent level of protection.

For those under the age of 18 who have contraindicators or allergies to the mRNA vaccines, there is currently no COVID-19 vaccine available, meaning that they will remain unvaccinated.

For winter 2022 we have updated our online booking portal, so that those over the age of 12 can book and reschedule electronically. Those under the age of 12 must continue to use the National Vaccination Helpline to book their appointments, due to age restrictions on information governance.