All children aged five to 11 in Scotland will be offered a COVID vaccine, Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed.

The first minister said the Scottish government has accepted the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s recommendation for that age group to now be offered the vaccine.

She said work is “under way on the logistics of delivery” and parents and carers will receive more information as soon as possible.

Ms Sturgeon’s announcement comes after Wales on Tuesday night became the first UK nation to announce five to 11 year olds will be offered a COVID vaccine.

England is expected to follow suit soon, while Northern Ireland has not yet said it it will be offering the jab to that age group.

Clinically vulnerable children aged 5 to 11 in all four nations have already had the vaccine rolled out to them.

Both Wales’ health minister and Ms Sturgeon said the final JCVI advice has yet to be published but they are accepting it.

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The Scottish first minister said discussions with health boards on the best way of deliver COVID vaccines to 5-11 year olds are already underway.

The age group above, 12-15 year olds, started getting their first vaccines in England at the end of September and have been able to get their second jab from just before Christmas as long as their first was at least 12 weeks before.

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