All children aged five to 11 in NI to be offered Covid-19 jabs
It also comes after Wales, Scotland and England also announced they would be following JCVI guidance
All children aged five to 11 are to be offered a Covid-19 vaccine in Northern Ireland, Stormont's Health Minister has confirmed.
The announcement by Robin Swann follows the latest advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
It also comes after Wales, Scotland and England also announced they would be following JCVI guidance.
The JCVI has advised that children in this age cohort are offered two 10 mcg doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, with an interval of at least 12 weeks between doses.
The paediatric dose is a third of the strength of an adult dose.
In December, the JCVI had advised that children aged five to 11 years who were in a clinical risk group, or who were a household contact of someone who is immunosuppressed, should be offered vaccines.
Mr Swann said: "As has always been the case, our vaccination programme will continue to be guided by the expert advice.
"This announcement by the JCVI underlines the important role that the Covid-19 vaccines plays in protecting people of all ages and has only been taken after rigorous assessment of both safety and effectiveness.
"I have asked the PHA (Public Health Agency) to work with the (health) trusts to put this latest advice into operation and further details will be released shortly."
In a statement, the JCVI said: "This advice on the offer of vaccination to 5 to 11-year-olds who are not in a clinical risk group is considered by JCVI as a one-off pandemic response programme.
"As the Covid-19 pandemic moves further towards endemicity in the UK, JCVI will review whether, in the longer term, an offer of vaccination to this, and other paediatric age groups, continues to be advised."
The deaths of five more people who had previously tested positive for Covid-19 were reported in Northern Ireland on Wednesday, along with another 2,889 confirmed cases of the virus.
On Wednesday morning there were 474 Covid-19 patients in hospital, 12 of whom were in intensive care.
December 2019
The first case of Covid-19 was discovered in Wuhan, China and reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) in December 2019.
January 2020
Chinese state media reported the first known death from Covid-19 on 11 January 2020. The city of Wuhan was closed off by Chinese authorities on 23 January 2020, cancelling all transport entering and leaving the city. In January, the WHO also declared Covid-19 as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
February 2020
February was when the virus started to receive real global recognition. It was officially named Covid-19 by WHO, and countries around the world started to report cases and deaths. Italy reported Europe's first major outbreak and had to use tents to treat surging numbers of patients as hospitals ran out of room.
March 2020
UK Governments introduced a national lockdown from 23 March 2020, instructing people to "Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives", after the UK reported its first official death from Covid-19 on 2 March 2020. Cities around the country appeared deserted. In late March the United States became the worst hit country with the most reported cases at that point.
April 2020
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was taken into intensive care with Covid-19 on 6 April 2020. Worldwide, cases topped one million and deaths passed 200,000. April also saw the first peak of the virus in the UK.
June 2020
England and Scotland made face coverings mandatory on public transport in June, while Northern Ireland and Wales followed suit in July. Face coverings then became mandatory in shops in each nation, with Scotland and England introducing the rule in July, Northern Ireland in August and Wales in September.
September 2020
In September, the official global death toll reached 1 million. However, the official figures are thought to greatly understate the number of people who have actually died from Covid-19. In the US alone, Covid-19 deaths surpassed 200,000.
December 2020
The UK became the first country in the world to approve a vaccine against Covid-19 for use in December. Vaccinations began on 8 December 2020, when 90-year-old Margaret Keenan became the first person outside of a clinical trial to receive the jab. Later on in the month, the UK approved a second vaccine, developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca. However, it wasn't all good news, as a new variant of Covid-19 was also discovered in December, which was much more transmissible than the original strain.
January 2021
In January 2021, the mass vaccine roll out began across the UK. However, all four nations all went back into full lockdown as the UK entered a second wave of the virus, with the peak surpassing that of the first wave in April.
February 2021
At the height of the third lockdown, the first cases of the South African variant came to dominate diagnosed Covid cases in the UK.
March 2021
March saw the one-year anniversary since the first lockdown. Stormont ministers met to discuss the first stage of lockdown restrictions easing, including the return to schools and 'click and collect' for non-essential items
April 2021
Northern Ireland was given a list of dates for reopening...
23rd April - Hairdressers and beauty salons, outdoor attractions, driving lessons and outdoor sport
30th April - Non-essential retail, self-contained tourist accommodation, outdoor hospitality
May 2021
The 'stay local' messaged was removed on May 24th as well as indoor hospitality and indoor gyms. The need for quarantine when traveling within the UK and Ireland was removed also.
June 2021
In June, the Delta variant – first discovered in India – became the dominant strain of coronavirus and drove a third wave in infections across the UK.
The NI Vaccination programme was ramped up, which included opening the SSE Arena for walk-in first time slots.
July 2021
Live music given the green light from July 5th.
As Northern Ireland enters a fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Health chiefs opened pop-up vaccination stations across Northern Ireland, including Custom House Square.
Department of Health launched a new COVIDCertNI app enabling users to show proof of vaccination for international travel.
August 2021
People who are close contacts of positive cases no longer had to isolate for 10 days, as long as they test negative and have had both jabs of a Covid-19 vaccine.
Northern Ireland recorded its highest number of daily Covid cases since start of pandemic - 2,397 confirmed cases
September 2021
While the number of confirmed Covid cases worldwide surpassed 7 million, the UK was emerging from the pandemic. The furlough scheme, brought in at the beginning of the pandemic, was formally ended – funding £70 billion of people's wages.
From Friday 10th September indoor gatherings of up to 15 from 4 households was allowed, table service removed, dancing was permitted at weddings, restrictions on music levels lifted and ticket requirements revoked.
October 2021
Nightclubs in Northern Ireland were allowed to reopen on October 31st.
Social distancing was scrapped within the hospitality sector.
November 2021
Cases began to rise across the world as the newly named Omicron variant spread rapidly across the world. Flights were stopped to southern African nations including South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana.
The Department of Health launched a new domestic use verification app, providing an easy way of checking NI Covid-19 vaccination 'domestic use' certificates.
December 2021
New restrictions came into place designed to suppress rising case numbers amid the spread of the Omicron variant. Working from home was advised, hospitality dropped back down to a max 6 people, LFD tests were taken before attending events.
January 2022
Lockdown restrictions brought in from Boxing day were eased on Jan 26th - including nightclubs reopening and the removal of table service.
There was a travel update too, fully vaccinated travellers arriving from non-red list countries into Northern Ireland no longer need to take a Covid-19 test or self-isolate.
February 2022
All remaining Covid-19 restrictions lifted across Northern Ireland on Tuesday 15th February 2022.
March 2022
Travellers are no longer required to take tests or complete a Passenger Locator Form (PLF) arriving into Northern Ireland.
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