Friday November 19, 2021 | VICTORIA, BC
by Mary P Brooke, Editor | Island Social Trends
Today Health Canada announced approval of a COVID-19 vaccine for use in children ages 5 to 11 years.
The approval of the vaccine for that age group has been imminent for some time, and was hinted at yesterday through journalists in Ottawa.
Today in BC, Provincial Health Officer Dr Bonnie Henry and Minister of Health Adrian Dix have issued the following statement regarding Health Canada’s approval of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for children aged five to 11:
“British Columbia welcomes the news that Health Canada has approved Pfizer’s COVID-19 pediatric vaccine for children aged five to 11. The rigorous review confirms that this first vaccine formulated for younger children is safe and effective. We also welcome the recommendations from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization on use of this new lower-dose vaccine to provide protection to children from five to 11 years of age. We look forward to making the pediatric vaccine available for 360,000 young British Columbians as soon as possible.
“While children are at a lower risk of severe disease from COVID-19, it can still result in serious outcomes in some children, including hospitalization and long-term symptoms. As well, as we have seen over the past 20 months, the pandemic has had a tremendous impact on children and families and has led to significant disruptions to important social activities and school. Health Canada’s approval of the vaccine for children is another important step that will help protect children from COVID-19 and help us safely get back to many important activities.
“We encourage B.C. parents and guardians to register their children to get vaccinated at www.getvaccinated.gov.bc.ca – or by calling 1-833-838-2323 toll-free. Already, more than 75,000 children have been registered for their vaccine and are on the list to be contacted to book an appointment and get their COVID-19 pediatric vaccine.
“British Columbia will have enough vaccine for every child aged five to 11, and we will be ready to start welcoming children to clinics throughout the province soon after we receive our supply of pediatric vaccines from the Government of Canada. “We will share detailed information early next week about B.C.’s plan for vaccines for children five to 11.”
The age cohort:
Vaccines for school-age children could not — for many families — have come soon enough. COVID-19 exposures and cases among children have been increasing since the return to K-12 school in Fall 2021.
In a poll done by Island Social Trends on Twitter last week, 81.1% of respondents (presumably parents) said they would be getting their children vaccinated as soon as the vaccine was made available. The poll also shows that 9.1% of parents would consider the vaccine once there was more information, and 9.1% said no they wouldn’t be getting their kid(s) vaccinated at this time.
Teachers in BC have been supportive of COVID-19 vaccination for children.
School districts still have not come to any final decisions about mandating COVID-19 vaccination for their employees (teachers, admin staff, etc).
COVID-19 has become a “disease of the unvaccinated”, Minister Dix has been saying in recent weeks. Until now, that has included all children under the age of 12.
