All children aged from five to 11 will be offered the covid vaccine, the Scottish Government has confirmed.
Nicola Sturgeon said discussions are already underway with health boards about delivering the jab.
The First Minister made the decision following updated advice from the UK-wide JCVI recommending the universal vaccination of 5 to 11-year-olds.
She said: “Although it has yet to be published officially by the JCVI, like colleagues in Wales we have received advice from the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) which recommends COVID-19 vaccination for all children aged 5 to 11-years-old.
“I can confirm that ministers have considered this draft advice and are content to accept its recommendations.
"Throughout the pandemic it has been our intention that we follow the clinical and scientific evidence available to us and I’d like to once again thank the JCVI for their hard work in scrutinising the science and providing clear guidance."
She added: “Discussions with Health Boards on the best way of delivering vaccinations to 5 to 11-year-olds have already begun.
"These will continue and we will provide further information when this approach is finalised. In the meantime, parents and carers of children aged between 5 and 11 need not do anything.
“This draft advice does not affect children in the 5 to 11-year-old age group who have specific medical conditions which place them at greater risk from Covid-19.
"This group is already being vaccinated.”
On Tuesday, Wales’s health minister Eluned Morgan said it was a “shame” and “perplexing” that the JCVI advice had not been published earlier as she announced jabs would be available in Wales.
The UK medicines regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), approved the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for use in children aged five to 11 last year.
After the announcement, the JCVI said the vaccine should be offered to at-risk children in this age group, and thousands have been vaccinated already.
Scottish Greens MSP Gillian Mackay said: “I am pleased that the Scottish Government now plans to offer vaccination to children over the age of five, in line with the updated jcvi advice.
“This increased rollout will enhance the population’s protection and also reduce disruption to education.
“I am sure that parents and carers will be reassured by the extensive attention both the medicines regulator, the mhra, and the jcvi have given to this rollout.”
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