All children aged 12 to 15 in England will be offered one dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine, the BBC reports.
The first youngsters will receive invitations next week for the vaccination programme, which is expected to be rolled out in schools, the government said.
One heads’ leader said it was essential that the government “immediately confirms” that the vaccination process will be run and overseen entirely by “the appropriate medical teams”.
It is not yet clear whether independent schools will be expected to host vaccinations.
Mr Zahawi told BBC Breakfast he hoped the first vaccinations would take place by 22 September.
Reacting to the news, Geoff Barton, general secretary of ASCL, told the TES: “This is particularly important in light of recently published evidence from the Sage modelling group, which warned that it is highly likely that exponential increases in infections will be seen in school-attending age groups in the autumn term.
“It is crucial that everything possible is done to prevent this from happening and to prevent attendance from once again unravelling.”
Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the NAHT union, said: “Now that a decision has been made, it is essential that the government immediately confirms that the process surrounding vaccinations will be run and overseen entirely by the appropriate medical teams.
“Where parents have questions, including about important matters such as consent, these must be handled by those same medical teams.
“There must be no delay in confirming this otherwise school leaders will be put in an impossible position of facing questions to which they simply do not have the answers.”
Consideration will be given to whether to give 12 to 15-year-olds a second dose of the vaccine, but this would not be before the spring term.