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Dear Parent/Carer,

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

New advice on when a child may be vaccinated post COVID infection

On Wednesday 17 November Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust was advised by the JointCommittee on Vaccination and Immunisation that the time a young person under the age of 18 years (including 12-15 year olds) should wait before having the vaccine after being diagnosed positive with COVID-19 has now increased.

This has now risen from four to twelve weeks from the date of their positive COVID diagnosis. This change has been made because in younger people, protection from natural infection is likely to be high for a period of months, and vaccination in those recently infected may slightly increase the chance of side effects.

We must apologise for any inconvenience this change in national policy will cause. When we visit your child’s school to vaccinate them, we will therefore need to check if any 12-15 year old has had COVID since the beginning of the school term. You also have the alternative to have your child vaccinated at a local vaccination site by booking an appointment using the National Booking Service here

www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/

When you go to book an appointment, please ensure that you have the NHS number of your child. If you’re unsure where to find this, go to the following page:

www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/how-can-we-help/how-can-i-find-out-my-nhs-number/

On arrival you can give verbal consent to have your child vaccinated. If you have any queries, please call the following numbers depending on where you live:
Hertfordshire residents please call T:01727 732062.
East Anglia residents please call T: 0300 5555055

Yours sincerely,

The Hertfordshire and East Anglia Community School Age Immunisation Team