The Federal Government will make 500,000 vaccinations available following medical advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) to make a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine available to children aged 6 months to under 5 years in certain at-risk population groups.
About 70,000 young children at higher risk of developing severe illness from COVID-19 will be able to receive a vaccination from September 5.
Initial supplies of the vaccine will be arriving in Australia this week and distributed to vaccination sites.
At this stage, COVID-19 vaccination is only recommended for children aged six months to under five years with severe immune-compromise, disability, and those who have complex and/or multiple health conditions which increase the risk of severe COVID-19.
Given the particular needs of this group of children and the small size of the cohort to be vaccinated, only a small proportion of vaccination sites will deliver this vaccine. These sites will be identified on the Vaccine Clinic Finder and bookings will open later this month.
ATAGI is not currently recommending COVID-19 vaccination for children aged six months to under five years who are not at increased risk and ATAGI will continue to monitor the evidence in relation to the benefit of vaccination in this age group.
Source:
Media release, August 3
Minister for Health and Aged Care, Mark Butler