A Warrnambool primary school student has decided to get a COVID-19 vaccine on his 12th birthday.
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Toby Battersby will mark his 12th birthday on November 29 by getting his first pfizer shot.
His mother Claire Battersby said her son came up with the idea.
"He thinks it's important to get vaccinated because it gives you more freedoms and helps protect yourself, your family and other people from Covid-19," she said.
Toby attends East Warrnambool Primary School and is in year 6.
A number of his friends have already been vaccinated against coronavirus.
The family hopes to travel to South Australia over the Christmas period.
"I want to be able to see interstate family and to do this as safely as possible," Toby said.
His mother said she was proud of her son's stance on the vaccination.
Last week Education Minister James Merlino said he hoped children aged 5 to 11 would soon be eligible to be vaccinated.
Greg Hunt has defended making under-12s wait until after Christmas gatherings for their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, but says the nation's booster rollout for adults will be one of the earliest in the world.
The clinical trial that US regulators used to give emergency approval to Pfizer for 5- to 11-year-olds was very small, the Health Minister said.
Australia's medical regulator and vaccine advisory panel "do not want to cut corners on the study and data for children - but they want to go as quickly as possible, which is what we're doing," Mr Hunt told ABC's Insiders on Sunday.
Supply was not the issue, he said. The decision was in the hands of medical experts, but the expectation was "hopefully early January".
"If everybody is vaccinated, the best protection for kids is vaccinated parents, family members and siblings over the age of 12," he said.
Australia's COVID-19 Taskforce Commander, Lieutenant General John Frewen, also backed a January rollout start for under-12s.
No decision has been made on whether that age group would need to prove vaccination in order to board a plane or enter some venues, as adults are currently required, Mr Hunt confirmed.
Those decisions will be made on health advice from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, he said.
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