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All five to 11-year-olds in Wales are to be offered Covid vaccinations, the Welsh Government has confirmed.

Wales will become the first UK nation to offer the jab to children in the age group who are not at clinical risk. Children who are considered at risk, such as those with an underlying health problem, are already being offered the vaccine.

Welsh Health Minister Eluned Morgan said she had received unpublished advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

There have been reports the advice from the JCVI has not been published due to a “disagreement” with UK Government.

In a written statement she said: “The JCVI advice will be published in due course. I have accepted this advice and thank the JCVI for scrutinising the science and evidence and setting out its advice in a careful and considered way. Our intention, as it has been from the start of the pandemic, is to follow the clinical and scientific evidence.

“In accepting this advice, I will be asking the health boards to consider carefully the issue of equity within their operational planning. We will work closely with Public Health Wales and the health boards to ensure there is age-appropriate factual and trusted information about the potential benefits and risks of vaccination for this age range.”

The minister encouraged families to start having conversations about whether or not to take up the offer and to seek out advice from Public Health Wales.

Speaking in the Senedd on Tuesday, February 15, Ms Morgan said the vaccination of five to 11-year-olds would not be a “matter of urgency”, as the booster campaign was over Christmas because of the lower risk to children in that age group.

She added: “We’re also waiting to hear from the JCVI to see whether there will be a need for a booster on top of the booster for older age groups in the spring. So, we certainly would want to consider which of those has to be prioritised.”

On the subject of the JCVI’s advice she said: “It’s a shame and it’s perplexing to understand why that has not been published yet. But I have seen a copy of that advice and we will be commencing the roll-out of vaccinations for five to 11-year-olds. Of course, it’s likely to have been a very difficult decision for the JCVI, because generally, children have a milder illness and fewer hospitalisations, but, of course, they have to balance that against the prospect of missing school.”

Further details are to be published next week.