Ontario parents expressed relief Thursday after the province’s announcement COVID-19 Vaccinations for babies and preschoolers can be booked next weekend.
The province said bookings for the pediatric vaccine for children aged six months to five years would open at 8 a.m. next Thursday.
Karen Gilbert said she is thrilled with the announcement. Her entire family has been vaccinated, except “the one who needs it most” – her four-year-old son, Jasper, who needs complex care.
“This is great news and I’m hoping to be the first to get it,” the Ottawa-area mother said over the phone. “I couldn’t be happier.”
The family has put up a “wall of security” around Jasper for the past two years, but Gilbert said skipping birthday parties and visitors has been challenging.
“Keeping it safe and protected is of the utmost importance,” she said.
Health Minister Sylvia Jones said a low dose of the Modern Shot would provide protection against COVID-19 to younger family members.
“Getting vaccinated is the best defense against COVID-19,” she wrote in a statement.
“I encourage parents to reach out to their health care provider, provincial vaccine liaison center or SickKids COVID-19 Vaccine Counseling Service to make an informed choice for their family.”
Shots can be booked through the province’s online portal, public health units that use their own booking systems, pharmacies, indigenous-led clinics, as well as some primary care providers and pediatricians.
The province said that Moderna’s pediatric shots are being distributed in Ontario over the next several days.
Opposition New Democrats called on the government to make sure family doctors and pediatricians have access to vaccines.
Health critic France Gelinas said the party shared the parents’ “extreme relief” but noted that many would prefer to take their children to their family doctor for a shot.
“Many family physicians and pediatricians do not have a steady supply of vaccine doses, or it is difficult for them to obtain information about when or if they will receive doses for their patients,” she said in a written statement.
“We are calling on the Conservative government to send immediate doses to all family physicians and pediatricians and have them come in.”
The news comes after a federal announcement last week that Health Canada approved Moderna’s two-dose pediatric vaccine for young children. Canada’s drug regulator said the vaccine could be given in doses up to one-fourth the size approved for adults.
Immunized youth ages 12 to 17 will also be able to schedule a second booster dose the following Thursday if six months have passed since their first booster dose, or fourth shot.
Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kieran Moore said COVID-19 vaccines are safe and will help protect children from the virus, noting that some can become very ill and require hospitalization.
“Even if a child already has COVID-19, vaccination will help to further improve the immune response and provide more robust protection,” he said in a written statement.
“I encourage every parent and caregiver to consider vaccinating and protecting their young children, especially if they are immunocompromised or have other serious medical conditions.”
Stephanie Bergman’s daughter was born on the day the first COVID-19 case was reported in Canada.
Two and a half years later, Bergman said the prospect of booking a vaccine for her daughter is both exciting and disappointing. He said that is disappointing, as the government seems to have lost the urgency it displayed with the first rollout of the vaccine.
In November, vaccine bookings were opened four days after Ontario approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children ages five to 11. When appointments for preschoolers and babies open on Thursday, it will have been two weeks since approval.
“I just wish we could treat this age group the same way as before. But I’m so excited to be able to say yes to more things and get a taste of normal parenting because all of my parenting The experience has been through the pandemic,” she said.
Once her daughter was vaccinated, Bergman said she looked forward to taking her to swimming lessons, playing with friends, and taking her first dinner at a restaurant.
She said it would also ease concerns that her daughter might infect friends and family, especially grandparents.
Bergman said she wants the government to offer a more explicit list of placement options near her home in North Bay, Ont., so she can start preparing her daughter. She would also like to see the province make masks mandatory at vaccination sites.
And if vaccines designed to protect against new variants are introduced in the fall, Bergman said he expects approval for younger children to be in short order.
“How do we hold these kids so they don’t always lag behind a year and a half?”
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