Young people in the Western Isles are to join millions of people by receiving the Covid vaccine.
Teenagers from key groups and aged 16 and 17 will be invited by NHS Western Isles in the coming weeks to attend their first appointment and receive their inaugural doze of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Health officials say by vaccinating people as quickly as possible it will help drive infection rates down, particularly as a significantly more infectious and faster spreading strain has developed.
The shift to vaccinating young people below the age of 17 was taken by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) taking a range of factors into consideration.
These include the severity of suspected adverse events following vaccination, the impact the Covid vaccine would have on the delivery of other school-based immunisations and the mental health and education impacts of Covid.
A second dose is anticipated to be offered later to increase the level of protection and contribute towards longer term protection, pending further evidence on the effectiveness and safety on this age group.
Officials are appealing to young people not to register on the national portal, as it is not used locally. A local system has been put in place to contact all eligible individuals directly.