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COVID-19 vaccines will be offered to at-risk children from six months to under five years of age from next month.
- Australia will become one of the first nations to offer the COVID-19 vaccine to children under 5
- Bookings for children aged 6 months to under 5 will open next month
- The vaccine has only be recommended for at-risk children
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) has recommended approximately 70,000 young children at higher risk of developing severe illness from COVID-19 be able to receive the Moderna vaccine from September 5.
At this stage, the vaccine is only recommended for children in that age group who are severely immunocompromised, have a disability, or complex health conditions that increase the risk of COVID-19.
ATAGI said it was not recommending broader vaccination within the age group as those children had a low likelihood of severe illness COVID-19, but added that was under ongoing consideration based on data and vaccine supply and availability.
The vaccine advisory body also noted there was insufficient evidence to suggest that vaccination of infants and children would have any impact on community transmission.
Eligible children are advised to receive two primary doses eight weeks apart, with an additional shot recommended for severely immunocompromised children.
The federal Health Minister, Mark Butler, said Australia would be one of the first countries in the world to roll out a COVID-19 vaccination for children aged under five years, following the United States and Canada.
"Given that there is quite a limited cohort here of children who are particularly vulnerable to severe illness we are confident there will be a reasonable uptake," he said.
"This obviously is a matter for parents to decide and I encourage them if they have any questions to consult with their treating medical practitioners."
However, he acknowledged vaccine rates among children aged five to 11 had plateaued, with only 40 per cent of the age group having received two doses and just over half of the cohort
"There is more work to do there," he said.
ATAGI's advice follows provisional approval by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) of a paediatric dose of the Moderna vaccine, which contains a lower concentration of the active ingredient than the adult dose.
The federal government has secured 500,000 doses of the paediatric vaccine for the six months to under five-year-old age group and initial supplies will arrive in Australia later this week.
They will need to be batch tested by the TGA before they are rolled out.
Parents are currently unable to book the vaccine but details on doing so will be laid out in coming weeks, with the government noting only a small proportion of vaccination sites will roll out these vaccines.
The TGA has also commenced evaluation for the Pfizer vaccine for under five year olds, which could potentially provide additional supply options for the government.
Mr Butler said overall more than 1.5 million Australians had also received a fourth dose of the COVID vaccine since the federal government expanded eligibility three weeks ago.
Two-thirds of people over 65 have received a fourth dose of the vaccine.
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