Young people aged 16 and 17 urged to register for vaccination

Young people in Scotland aged 16 and 17 have been urged to register for their coronavirus vaccination.

A registration portal was opened by the NHS on Friday, meaning that people in that age category are now able to get an appointment.

It comes after the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) earlier this week advised that the vaccine rollout should be extended.

In making its decision, the JCVI said that a number of factors have been considered but the most important element was the risk/benefit of vaccination to the individual.

It is expected that everyone in the 16 to 17-year-old age group will have been offered an appointment by the end of September.

Are you 16 or 17 years old? You can register for your Covid vaccine from today – please do so to protect yourself while you get back to enjoying much more normal lives. Details of drop in clinics will be available soon too. https://t.co/tI1QPlHImm
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) August 6, 2021

On Twitter on Friday, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon encouraged young people to register for their vaccination.

She wrote: “Are you 16 or 17-years-old? You can register for your Covid vaccine from today – please do so to protect yourself while you get back to enjoying much more normal lives. Details of drop in clinics will be available soon too.”

Health secretary Humza Yousaf said that operational issues are being worked through to open up vaccine drop-ins.

“The self-registration portal is now open to 16-17yr olds to register for a vaccine,” Yousaf wrote on Twitter.

“They will be contacted by email/txt with an appointment. We are also rapidly working through operational issues to open up our drop-ins for those aged 16-17 asap.”