A letter from principals at state schools urging children to be vaccinated during the holidays has been met with mixed reactions from parents.
Chief Health Officer Jeanette Young wrote to schools across Queensland to encourage families, including children aged 12 years and older to use the two-week school holidays to get vaccinated.
Cleveland District State High School principal Leonard McKeown sent out an email last Friday telling parents that children could receive a Pfizer vaccine at a Queensland Health vaccination location or at a participating GP.
He encouraged parents to make this a priority during school holidays.
- Read more: Children gets thumbs up for COVID vaccines
- Read more: Government bullish on virus vaccine supply
Mr McKeown said that soon, parents would be able to access the Moderna vaccine at a community pharmacy.
Some Redlands parents are hesitant to get their children vaccinated, saying they are not ready for their teens to get the jab yet, and needed to do more research.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said earlier this month that states would be left to decide on whether to run school-based programs.
Mr Morrison encouraged parents to discuss vaccination with their children.
For young people, consent from a parent or guardian is usually required. Teens aged 16 years and older are deemed to have capacity to consent for vaccination.
In Australia, no child under the age of 10 has died from COVID-19, but one adolescent has died who had another serious infection in addition to COVID-19.
