Children between 12-17 can join Vaccination Queue – 20 Oct

Children aged between 12 and 17 can join vaccination queue from 20 October

The Health Ministry has announced that the vaccine rollout will be opened to teens from next week.

• South Africa will start vaccinating children from 12 years and older from 20 October

• Health Minister Joe Phaahla made the announcement during his weekly media briefing on FridayF

• Kids aged between 12 and 17 years will only be allowed to get one dose of the Pfizer vaccine for now

Adolescents aged 12 to 17 years will be eligible for the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine from Wednesday 20 October.

Health Minister Joe Phaahla made the announcement at a press briefing on Friday.

Children in the 12-17 cohort will only be allowed one dose of the two-dose Pfizer vaccine at this stage.

This follows a recommendation from the Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC) on vaccination.

Health officials are investigating some data that suggests that there is an increased heart inflammation risk in young people following the second dose of the Pfizer jab.

Scientific experts will assess the possibility of a second dose for this age group and announce their recommendations at a later stage.

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