Mum shares advice on getting Covid booster for high-risk children over 12

3 mins read

Thursday 13 January 2022

Tags: covid, vaccination, Covid-19 booster

Many parent carers are still struggling to secure a Covid booster for their little ones despite the government’s vaccines committee having recommended its extension to vulnerable children aged 12-15 back in December.

For many high-risk children in this age group, it has already been three months since they received their second jab — but most do not seem to been invited for their booster shot as yet.

This appears to be in contrast to JCVI advice recommending that boosters are prioritised based on both age and clinical risk, meaning that adults and children aged 16-17 should not necessarily take precedence over at-risk 12-15-year-olds.

Visiting a walk-in centre

In an effort to help other parent carers, mum Susanne Shanks spoke to Contact about how she successfully went about securing a booster vaccine for her eligible 13-year-old daughter Julia at a walk-in centre.

Julia has a rare respiratory condition called primary ciliary dyskinesia which makes her vulnerable to Covid and other chest infections. Despite getting her second dose in early October, Julia was not invited for a booster after it was approved for vulnerable kids in her age group.

“This time I decided not to phone up for an appointment, but to go to a walk-in centre, which was a very positive experience,” Susanne said. “Everything was checked properly with her medical history and NHS/government guidelines and she was given the booster, which should hopefully mean a return to some sort of normality within 2-3 weeks.”

Instead of a booster invitation letter, Susanne took a print-out of Julia’s Covid vaccination status confirming her two doses to the walk-in centre. She also took a letter from a December 2021 appointment with a respiratory paediatrician consultant in Glasgow recommending that Julia get the booster in January.

“They did spend quite some time checking the guidelines that she was eligible,” she said.

Check online first

We cannot guarantee that every walk-in centre will be willing to offer a booster even when shown evidence of previous vaccination. But if it has been three months since your child’s second dose and you are concerned about their health, it’s certainly worth trying.

Before visiting a walk-in centre, verify that it is providing vaccines to 12-15-year-olds by visiting the NHS ‘Grab-a-Jab’ website.

For more information about Covid vaccines for children, take a look at our FAQs.