Appointments can be made from today.

Children between the age of 5-11, who either are at high risk for Covid or live with somebody who is, can now register for a primary vaccination appointment. Those who make an appointment will receive the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

All children between the ages of 5 and 11 will be able to register for an appointment by January 10th. Children will receive a smaller dose of the vaccine than that administered to adults.

An appointment can be made through the HSE website, and requires that you provide:

• child’s name and date of birth
• parent’s mobile phone number
• parent’s email address
• child’s PPS number
• child’s Eircode

In the run-up to Christmas, Covid case numbers had surged among school-aged children, who have thus far had no protection from the virus.

Provisions are in place for parents with more than one child in the 5-11 age cohort. The HSE website reads: “You need to register each child separately. But if you have more than one child getting vaccinated, you can bring them to the same appointment time, even if their appointments are on different days.”

The site further notes: “If your child has additional needs, call HSELive to arrange more time at the appointment, or a quieter appointment with fewer people.”