The parents and carers of more than 600,000 5 to 11 years old in the North West can now book a Covid vaccination using the national booking service, as the largest and most successful vaccination programme in NHS history expands yet again.

The National Booking Service opened on Saturday, allowing parents of children who are between 5 and 11 to book their covid vaccines.

The NHS is making the vaccine available for all 5 to 11s following updated JCVI guidance, which recommended all children would benefit from a non-urgent offer of the vaccine, to help protect against potential future waves of COVID-19 and reduce the risk of children falling seriously ill with the virus.

NHS staff have already been vaccinating children under 12 who have medical conditions that put them at increased risk from COVID-19 or who live with someone with a weakened immune system, and more than half of 12 to 15 year olds have also come forward for a jab.

More than 100 sites across the region are providing vaccinations to 5 – 11s from today. NHS staff and volunteers are working hard to make the environment as fun and comfortable as possible for young children including a jungle themed room and adventure trail at Blackburn Cathedral and bee themed sites across Greater Manchester.

The majority of appointments for this age group will be available at local vaccination centres or community pharmacies outside of school hours and are available to book via the National Booking Service – on the NHS website or by calling 119. The NHS will be adding more appointments throughout the week.

There are also convenient vaccine walk-ins across the country which families can find via www.nhs.uk/grab-a-jab. The online finder shows which walk-in sites can vaccinate which age groups.

The NHS will also be sending invites to parents and guardians of eligible children throughout the next few weeks to let them know they can now book in for a vaccine and some people will be invited by their GP.

Dr Linda Charles-Ozuzu, Regional Director of Commissioning for NHS England and NHS Improvement and Senior Responsible Officer for the Vaccination Programme in the North West, said: “Vaccines remain our best defence against Covid-19 and will reduce the risk of children becoming seriously ill if they do contract this virus.

“As Covid cases are rising in the community, I’d encourage parents of children aged 5 to 11 to read the NHS information available and book a vaccine to make sure your family and loved ones are protected.

“The vaccine is safe and effective for this age group and appointments have been made longer so that families can speak with clinicians to make an informed decision whilst making it stress-free for children.”

Across the region, we have now delivered more than 14.7 million doses of the vaccine, including 3.8 million booster jabs, part of 119 million in England.

Parents and guardians are being encouraged to read the patient and consent information in advance of booking their child’s appointment and will be asked to provide consent for their child’s vaccination on the day.

The JCVI has advised that all children aged between 5 to 11 will be offered two 10 microgram doses, a third of the strength given to those over the age of 12, of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (Comirnaty®) with an interval of at least 12 weeks between doses (or 8 weeks for children who have medical conditions that put them at increased risk from COVID-19 or who live with someone with a weakened immune system.)

Families will be given a vaccination record card once their child has been vaccinated and are asked to keep this in a safe place. The vaccination record card provides the name of the vaccine, batch number and the date the vaccine was given.