Having received the go-ahead from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the Standing Vaccines Commission (STIKO), Germany will this week start to roll out coronavirus vaccines to five to 11-year-olds. 

Vaccine rollout starts in Germany for younger children

STIKO has recommended that children aged between five and 11 get vaccinated against coronavirus if they are considered at-risk, or have relatives who are at-risk - for instance due to preexisting conditions or age. Healthy children can also be offered the vaccine after a consultation with a doctor, the panel said. 

Following the announcement, Germany’s Federal Health Ministry said that 2,2 million doses of the children’s vaccine will be distributed across the country this week. Each federal state has been allocated a certain quota. 

The dosage of the BioNTech / Pfizer vaccine has been adjusted down for use on five to 11-year-olds. After being prepared, the shots are stored in brightly-coloured phials to prevent them from getting mixed up with adult doses. According to STIKO, children should also receive two doses, between three and six weeks apart. 

Jabs administered at GP surgeries and vaccination centres

Most jabs will be administered locally by paediatricians or other medical practices, but in some states children will also be able to visit one of the larger vaccination centres to get their shot. Some regions are also planning special vaccination campaigns for children, including one at the zoo and natural history museum in Berlin, and at a major football stadium in Hannover. 

In the long term, Ute Teicher, head of the Federal Association of Public Health Service Doctors, believes that schools and daycare centres could start administering jabs - for instance when children are due to receive booster shots. 

The new Family Minister, Anna Spiegel, said that the news of the rollout would come as a “huge relief” to children and their families, while the new Minister for Education, Bettina Stark-Watzinger, said that children’s vaccinations were of primary importance to help keep schools across the country open.