EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HOW THE VACCINE CAN SUPPORT MENTAL AND PHYSICAL WELLBEING OF YOUNG PEOPLE

Why should I have my child vaccinated? The UK’s chief medical officers all agree that while Covid-19 is typically mild or asymptomatic in most young people, it can be very unpleasant for some and one dose of the vaccine will provide good protection against severe illness and hospitalisation.

Vaccinating 12 to 15-year-olds should also help to reduce the need to have time-off from school and reduce the risk of spread of Covid-19 in schools. It may take a few weeks to build up some protection from the first dose of vaccine.

The Covid-19 secondary schools vaccine programme should therefore provide protection to young people and reduce the disruption to face-to-face education. This will help to keep young people emotionally well and happier, and this was an important consideration for the chief medical officers. Is it safe for young people? The medicines regulator, the MHRA, has confirmed the Pfizer vaccine is safe and effective for 12 to 17-year-olds. This followed a rigorous review of the safety, quality and effectiveness of the vaccines in this age group. The UK has also benefited from having data from the US, Canada and Israel, which have already offered vaccines universally to young people aged 12-15 years. How were the vaccines developed so quickly? All vaccines have had three stages of clinical trials and were tested on tens of thousands of people around the world. The trial phases were run in parallel, speeding up the overall time of vaccine production, but not the critical research time. Since December 2020, the Pfizer vaccine has been given to millions of people in the UK and has an excellent safety record. What are the common side effects of the Covid-19 vaccine? Like all medicines, vaccines can cause side effects. Most of these are mild and short-term and not everyone gets them. The very common side effects should only last a day or two. Very common side effects in the first day or two include:

■ having a painful, heavy feeling and tenderness in the arm where you had your injection

■ feeling tired

■ headache, aches and chills

■ Young people may also have some flu-like symptoms with episodes of shivering and shaking for a day or two.

We suggest that young people should rest and take paracetamol (following the dose advice in the packaging) to help make them feel better. How does the vaccines in school programme work? Like all school-based vaccination programmes, the vaccines will be administered by the school age immunisation service provider, working closely with the school. How does the consent process work? All parents, or those with parental responsibility, are asked for consent and will usually make this decision jointly with their children. The information leaflet is addressed to the child (as the recipient of the vaccine) and encourages them to discuss the decision about the vaccine with their parents.

In secondary schools, some young people may be mature enough to provide their own consent. This sometimes occurs if a parent has not returned a consent form, but the child still wishes to have the vaccine on the day of the session. Every effort will be made to contact the parent to seek their verbal consent. This is a well-established process, which you will be familiar with from other school-based vaccination programmes.