The Pfizer vaccine is now available for 12 – 15-year-olds from September 1.
If parents or caregivers have a booking or are making an appointment to be vaccinated, they can now book their child in as well if they fall into this age range.
Those under 40 years are also eligible for vaccination from September 1.
Medsafe gave provisional approval of this age group in June and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said today the Cabinet has agreed to make it available for this age group.
The Pfizer vaccine is already approved for 12 to 15-year-olds in Canada, the United States, Europe, and Japan.
However, from this Friday, parents and caregivers currently eligible for the vaccine will be able to book their 12 to 15-year-olds at the same time they book their own appointment. If parents have a vaccine appointment already booked, they can bring their children along and they can get their vaccine too.
"This is not a decision we have taken lightly. Many of us are parents ourselves and take this duty of making decisions about other people's children extremely seriously," Ardern says.
"But it is safe and it's the right thing to do."