COVID VACCINE CLINICS SET-UP FOR YOUNGSTERS
Sessions have been running throughout the half-term break, with four remaining
PARENTS can get their children vaccinated against Covid-19 at special clinics this half-term.
Youngsters aged between 12 and 15 can get a jab, without an appointment, at the vaccination centre at Daniel Platt Business Park, on Charles Clowes Drive, off Brownhills Road, in Tunstall.
The first children’s clinic was held on Wednesday.
Now there are sessions today between 5.30pm and 7.30pm, and tomorrow between 9am and 4pm.
Stoke-on-trent and Staffordshire have been lagging behind other areas on the vaccination of 12 to 15-yearolds.
In Stoke-on-trent, only 8.8 per cent of youngsters in the age group have had a jab.
In the Staffordshire Moorlands the rate is 17 per cent, while in Newcastle it is 10.2 per cent.
Covid-19 infection rates remain highest among the 10-to-14 age group – in Stoke-on-trent it is currently 1,327 cases per 100,000, compared to 510.5 cases per 100,000 for the city’s population as a whole.
Dr Paddy Hannigan, clinical lead for the vaccination programme in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-trent, is urging families to take up the offer of vaccinations this half-term.
He said: “The vaccines are safe and effective, and will protect your children from Covid-19, preventing further disruption to their education.
“It not only protects them, but also members of your family who may be vulnerable to serious illness.
“This vaccination offer is an expansion that is running alongside the schools’ programme, which has already vaccinated nearly half a million young people in England and visited thousands of schools.
“These walk-ins will offer more opportunities to get vaccinated at a time and place that fits around your schedule.”
More clinics across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-trent will be added in the coming weeks.
The Covid-19 vaccination is still available for anyone over the age of 12. To find out when and where you can get your vaccine, go to the Together We’re Better website.