Schools in Northern Ireland are set to begin vaccinating 12 to 15-year-old pupils from next month.
The Public Health Agency (PHA) has confirmed that letters and consent forms for the Covid-19 vaccine are expected to be sent to parents of eligible children in mid-to-late October.
Parents will get a letter, consent form and Covid-19 vaccine information material prior to vaccine teams visiting schools, a spokesperson for the Public Health Agency (PHA) told BeIfast Live.
"The PHA is calling on the parents of eligible children to talk to them about the Covid-19 vaccine and make an informed choice together about getting vaccinated," they added.
"This element of the vaccination programme is due to start mid- to late-October, with the majority of schools commencing in November.
The PHA is also urging parents and guardians to look out for the consent form coming home in schoolbags and "to read the information leaflets and talk to your children about the vaccine and make an informed decision together."
The move to vaccinate children aged 12 to 15 was unanimously recommended by all four UK chief medical officers last month - despite the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) opposing vaccination for this age group.
But they suggested that the wider issues, such as education, should be taken into consideration and examined by CMOs.
In their advice to the Government, the UK’s CMOs said they were recommending vaccines on “public health grounds” and it was “likely vaccination will help reduce transmission of Covid-19 in schools”.
The advice was accepted, and all those aged 12 to 15 in Northern Ireland will now be offered one dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.
For those who are part of an ‘at risk’ group, they will receive two doses, eight weeks apart, in line with JCVI advice.
In Northern Ireland, the schools immunisation programme also covers the childhood flu programme, which this year will see a further roll out of the free flu vaccine to include school children up to year 12.
"The schools vaccination teams will be implementing both the Covid-19 and flu programmes to eligible children in primary and post-primary schools across Northern Ireland over the coming months," the agency added.
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