Bookings will be available through GPs, Commonwealth Vaccination Clinics and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations.

Each state and territory will advise when their state vaccination clinics will open to this group.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Moderna vaccine would also be made available subject to approvals from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) recommendations for those aged between 12 and 18.

The age group between 12 and 15 comprises approximately 1.2 million children; it is expected that all Australians in this group will have access to a vaccine during the course of 2021.

Caterina Cerrina, the director of Brain Athletics in Melbourne and mother-of-three, supports the rollout of the vaccine to younger Australians.

“Everyone in my family is vaccinated, even my older children,” she said.

“Now we’re happy that my youngest, Pierre-Louis, who is 15 years old, will be able to get the vaccine too.

“If we look at what happened in Europe, we see that many young people contracted the virus at some point and the same is happening here in Australia, with many schools consequently being closed.”

With the Delta variant running rampant in recent weeks, there has been a surge in infections, also within many school communities.

“I’m not an expert, but I chose to place my trust in scientific institutions and if this is the best way out, so be it,” Cerrina said.

“I’m more afraid of ​​catching the virus, with all the complications that it entails, than suffering rare side effects related to the vaccine.”

Many Australians, young and old, have been hesitant to get vaccinated; however, medical experts have repeatedly stressed that the immediate and long-term risks associated with contracting the virus far outweigh the risk of suffering side effects from the vaccine.

But now it seems that things are slowly changing, perhaps due to the concerning situation in New South Wales and the sharp rise in cases in Victoria.

Chiara Murgia, senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne and mother to a 12-year-old, is also in favour of vaccinating all age groups.

“We’re relying on the authorities and trusting them,” she said.

“We plan to have our daughter Sara vaccinated as soon as possible.

“Neither my husband nor I are doctors, but we work in the biomedical field so we always try to keep tabs on the data; at the moment, there are millions of children of the same age vaccinated all over the world.

“In addition, the TGA has established that the vaccine is safe for young people.

“We’re aware that there’s a low chance of suffering side effects, but there’s more of a chance of getting sick from the virus.

“I’d also like to be able to travel again; we can’t stay at home forever.”

The desire to return to “normality” and travel again, particularly to reunite with loved ones abroad, seems to be one of the main motivators for getting vaccinated.

Another factor prompting people to get the jab is the increase in infection rates across different age groups.

“Now most of the cases concern young people, so we’re happy to be able to protect ourselves with the vaccine,” Murgia concluded.

“We’ve also heard stories of kids in intensive care and it breaks our hearts.

“Often we focus on the number of deaths, but ending up in hospital or intensive care is also awful.”

Parents should refer to the COVID-19 eligibility checker from September 13 to book in their child’s vaccination.