Will any other EU country vaccinate UK teens?

[Wizzwazzwas]

My 16yr old will soon be 12 weeks since his first Pfizer dose. I and he really want him double vacc. It seems the UK is going to either not bother or take forever to decide. I’m wondering if there is any other country in Europe we could visit to get him a second dose?

My 14yr old finally got their first dose a week ago, and my 11yr old will get theirs imminently after their 12th birthday. But the prospect of a second dose seems remote. I’m infuriated.

Meanwhile in USA even my 9yr old would soon be eligible...

Huh? My 16 year old just went to a walk in clinic for her second dose.

Second doses in the UK are only supposed to be for kids aged 17yrs 9 months and older unless CEV or household contacts of immunosuppressive. Most vaccination centres wouldn’t contemplate giving a second dose.

Where did you go?

Yes, we’ve just booked ds2 in for a second vaccine in Ireland, 3 weeks after his first dose here. It was surprisingly easy.

He’s supposed to be going to the US and needs 2 vaccines.

He’s 13 yo.

Thanks Apples! How did you go about booking? And are you Irish or living in N Ireland (if you don’t mind me asking)?

None of us are Irish. Dh does to Dublin a lot for work and knows it well. He just called up a vaccination centre and asked if he could book ds in, and they said yes. It didn’t seem to matter that he doesn’t live there or have a doctor or any medical records. Dh booked it for soon because apparently they’ve nearly competed vaccinating teens so won’t be running clinics for much longer.

And no, we’re not in Northern Ireland. We do live very near to East Midlands airport so it’s an easy trip.

Is this definitely possible? This would be really helpful for us (my DH is Irish). I wasn't sure if we could because we are UK resident - how does it work with the Covid pass - do you need to show proof of the first dose and do you then get an EU Covid pass?

Thank you so much in advance for the help - the situation here is driving me insane. It's as if they don't want families with 12 -15s to be able to leave the country :-( For people with family abroad it is just a nightmare. I know not everyone wants it but I don't see why we cant have the choice at least.

Going to get full details (phone number or email, address of the vaccination centre) dh used to book it and will PM you.

I have concerns that they won’t actually do it when he gets there but it seemed a risk worth taking. He’s booked in for the end of the month.

We’re not entirely sure how it will work when he comes to travel. Maybe 2 separate pieces of paper will do?!

Can you please let me know how it goes and where he's having it @ApplesAreTheBaneOfMyLife

I'm hoping to be in Dublin at Christmas and my kids really want a 2nd jab

Meanwhile in USA even my 9yr old would soon be eligible..

Not quite. Final EUA for pediatric dose Pfizer for 5-11 year-olds is expected later this week. The FDA approved it last week, a decision from the CDC is expected later this week.

www.aappublications.org/news/2021/10/29/townhall102921

Have you thought how this will affect a vaccine passport?
I suspect second doses will be coming for teens at some point and this will be considered to be fully vaccinated, vaccine abroad might complicate this.

I think they'll give second doses to teens here soon. In the meantime, I'm hoping that 16yo dd will be able to get a second jab soon because she is employed by a care home - we're just waiting for her to get to her 28 days post covid and then we'll try...it seems that she will be eligible because she works with vulnerable people. So looking for that kind of job might be an option for some of your kids?

I would be worried about trying to do it abroad, a) because they might decline to give it to you when they realise that you're not resident and b) because I'm not sure that two doses in different countries would result in the paperwork that you might need to travel. Good luck with it though!!

www2.hse.ie/screening-and-vaccinations/covid-19-vaccine/get-the-vaccine/going-to-a-walk-in-vaccination-clinic/

This is the Irish website we have been getting information from. Dh called and asked questions and they said they would vaccinate anyone who wanted a vaccine. Although an address is needed, the address of a hotel or AiRBnB is fine.

Apparently he is taking ds to a drop in clinic later this month and doesn’t actually have an appointment. What could possibly go wrong?!

The US CDC approved the pediatric Pfizer vaccine yesterday and it's already in distribution. Appointments are available in most places starting next Monday.

Good luck apples!

I have established that if we fly to Alaska we could get them done at an airport. Cost might be prohibitive, however!!

Not sure how you prove the first jab for an under 16 because apparently they can't get an NHS Covid pass. My DD 15 has had Covid and one jab which would make her count as "fully vaccinated" by France's rules but there's no way of proving it. When I complained about this to the official complaints email they wrote back telling me "unfortunately Covid passes are not available for under 16s." I was like, "thanks that's really helpful!!!"