The Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine will be available for children under five who are high-risk in February 2023, the Government has announced.
It comes after Medsafe provisionally approved the vaccine.
The vaccine for this age group’s dosage is an injection of 3mcg/0.2mL diluted dose - an adapted version of the vaccine used for five to 11-year-olds which has a higher dose of 30 mcg/0.3 mL in a diluted solution.
A Ministry of Health spokesperson said the provisional approval is for three doses of the adapted paediatric Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, with the second dose given three weeks after the first dose, followed by a third dose given at least eight weeks after the second dose.
Eligibility will be limited to children who are severely immunocompromised, or who have complex and/or multiple health conditions which increase the risk of severe disease from Covid-19.
“While most children under 5 do not currently need Covid-19 vaccination, the advice from CV-TAG was clear that a smaller subset of children are at higher risk should they catch the disease, and that this vaccine will assist them,” said Director-General of Health Dr Andrew Old.
A further announcement will be made in early 2023 when timing of vaccine delivery is confirmed.
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