The questions which keep coming: Has Omicron changed the situation? When is the best time to get a booster if a child has caught COVID? Will allowing teachers to get boosters earlier help protect children?

We sought the most authoritative advice to try to answer some of them.

Dr Mel Deery of the YourGP surgeries in Denman, Crace and Lyneham says this question is one of the most frequently asked.

The government advice is that adults can wait for as long as six months after being infected because the infection gives you some additional protection, and delaying may give the extra protection from the vaccine even longer.

But if you really need protection, sooner may be better than later. There may be several reasons for this, including:

There are different rules for children, for whom the recommendation is to wait at least four weeks following full recovery before vaccinating.

About one in 3000 children get a rare but serious delayed reaction to having COVID (it's called "paediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome".)

Dr Deery says this can occur two to six weeks after a child is infected.

"Children will be seriously unwell and require hospital admission," she says.

"Allowing a longer recovery time before vaccination for children of at least four weeks following recovery reduces the risk that this condition could be mistaken for side effects of the COVID vaccine."

So when you and your children should get vaccinated after infection is partly a matter of judgment (taking into account the best medical advice already outlined).

If a child has recovered from COVID but still has an appointment to vaccinate, be pragmatic, is the advice of Professor Margie Danchin, a children's doctor and researcher at the University of Melbourne.

She recommends waiting four weeks after recovery before vaccination - but definitely get your child vaccinated.

"If a parent has an appointment coming up and their child has completely recovered, and has no symptoms, then - knowing the pressures on the system and approaching the new school year - I wouldn't decline that appointment. It's about making a judgment call at the time of the appointment," she says.

She also recommends that adults who catch COVID might do well to postpone vaccination: "Based on vaccinology principles, it would be reasonable to consider waiting at least three months after you're well to get your booster dose."

A COVID infection stimulates the immune system like a vaccine, meaning you will produce antibodies that help increase your protection against COVID.

Teachers will be allowed to have boosters three months after their second main jab.

"I think it is a sound plan to prioritise them for boosters," Dr Deery says.

"Boosters give a significant and important boost to immunity against Omicron.

"It protects the teachers, who are working with children who are partially vaccinated in the five- to 11-year age range."

Dr Deery points out that keeping a safe distance in class and the corridors of a school may not be easy.

On top of that, younger children are unable to safely or effectively wear a mask. "Protecting teachers also helps protect children," she says.

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Apart from the actual physical protection from the virus, having teachers who are boosted may ease the anxieties of parents and children.

"The timing allows the teachers to get in before the rush of reducing the booster interval to three months at the end of January," she says.

"There is an ongoing high demand for booster immunisations."

There is good advice for parents, according to Dr Deery.

Firstly, try to make sure the child is wearing something like a T-shirt or singlet which gives complete access to the top of the arm; an 11-year-old struggling to take a jacket off makes it harder for everyone.

Secondly, Dr Deery says getting it over with quickly is the best way of minimising anxiety. The jab is small and painless. It is barely noticeable.

"The real trauma is often the anxiety before," Dr Deery says.

"If your child is anxious, it would be helpful if parents held him or her in their lap.

"If you've got a particularly anxious child, it would be helpful if both parents came."

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