The government has announced that young people aged 12 to 15 will be offered one dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.

It’s after the UK’s four Chief Medical Officers recommended that all 12-to 15-year-olds be offered the Covid-19 vaccine to help prevent transmission of the virus within schools, reduce the chance of future local outbreaks in the community, and support keeping schools open in what could be a difficult winter.

The UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has not recommended vaccinating healthy 12-to 15-year-olds. Until now, the Isle of Man has followed the advice from the JCVI.

The Isle of Man Government now says it will now be following the advice of the UK’s chief medical officers in this instance.

Chief Minister Howard Quayle said: ’It is clear that while young children may be less likely to become seriously ill from Covid-19, there is still the risk that some may become unwell or require hospital treatment and the vaccine will provide protection against this.’

He added: ’Furthermore, we are all aware of the impact the pandemic has had on the disruption to education of our young people, the effects this has had on their mental as well as physical health and this is something we are working hard to limit.

’By providing a vaccine to this age group, this will likely help reduce the transmission of Covid-19 in schools, and the potential consequent disruption to our children’s education.’

Parents or guardians of children aged 12 to 15 are being invited to register online for their child to receive a vaccine under cohort 20.

Parents are asked to attend the appointment in order to give their consent at the point of vaccination.

Alternatively, it is possible that a child can give their own consent if they can clearly demonstrate an understanding of the treatment including the benefits and risks, and have the ability to explain their reasoning to the vaccinator - this is known as the Gillick Competence.

A spokesperson for the vaccination programme said: ’It is important to also state that this is a personal choice for both the parents and the child on whether to receive the vaccine.

’If parents or guardians or young people have any queries or concerns on the vaccine, there is a wealth of information online.’

Planning is in progress for the vaccination of the 12- to 15-year-old age group to commence this month - vaccination will take place in both the Chester Street hub and high schools across the island, and will be staffed by a combination of the vaccine hub team and the school nursing team.

In a separate programme, seasonal flu jabs will also be offered this year to primary and secondary school students.

The flu jab rollout will begin next month and consent forms for this have already been sent to parents.

Meanwhile, a Covid-19 vaccine booster programme for over 50s will go ahead as planned this winter.

It follows advice given to the UK Government this week from the JCVI.

It stated that booster jabs should be offered to all adults aged 50 and over to prevent severe illness caused by Covid-19, hospitalisation and deaths, and to protect the National Health Service.

The Isle of Man is therefore going to follow suit, and rollout a third vaccine to around 40,000 local residents who had their second dose of vaccine at least six months ago.

The process will begin in the next few weeks, once essential documentation has been received from the UK.

Frontline health and care workers, residents of care homes, all adults aged 50 or over, all those aged between 16 and 49 with underlying conditions, adult carers, and household contacts of immunosuppressed individuals will all be offered the booster jab.

Seasonal flu vaccinations for those eligible can also be given at the same time.