The Covid vaccination will be made available to all children aged five to 11 years old.
Following advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, children who are not in a clinical risk group will now be offered the jab.
They will be offered two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine with an interval of at least 12 weeks between doses. The paediatric dose is a third of the strength of an adult dose.
The reason for offering this vaccination is to increase the immunity of vaccinated individuals against severe Covid in advance of a potential future wave of the virus.
In a statement JCVI said: “This advice on the offer of vaccination to five to 11-year-olds who are not in a clinical risk group is considered by JCVI as a one-off pandemic response programme.
"As the pandemic moves further towards endemicity in the UK, JCVI will review whether, in the longer term, an offer of vaccination to this, and other paediatric age groups, continues to be advised.”
In December JCVI advised that children aged five to 11 years in a clinical risk group, or who are a household contact of someone who is immunosuppressed should be offered primary course vaccination with two 10 microgram doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Health Minister Robin Swann said: "As has always been the case our vaccination programme will continue to be guided by the expert advice.
"This announcement by the JCVI underlines the important role the vaccines plays in protecting people of all ages and has only been taken after rigorous assessment of both safety and effectiveness.
"I have asked the PHA to work with the Trusts to put this latest advice into operation and further details will be released shortly."
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