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November 23, 2021 - 1:32 PM
The Pfizer pediatric vaccine is arriving in the Lower Mainland today but it will take the rest of the week to be distributed into the Interior and the North.
Invitations will go out early Monday morning to parents who have registered their children on Get Vaccinated B.C. so parents can schedule appointments, some of which can be booked as early as Monday.
“Health Canada has approved the pediatric vaccine for use in Canada,” the documents say. “The rigorous, independent, scientific review confirms that this first vaccine formulated for younger children is safe and it works.”
There are 91,000 children between the ages of five and 11 who are registered out of 350,000 children of that age in B.C.
Health authorities are encouraging people to register at Get Vaccinated B.C. rather than just dropping into vaccine clinics. There is no priority ranking in the 5-11 age group so whole families can get vaccinated together.
Children will need the verbal consent of a parent or guardian before getting vaccinated. If parents or guardians cannot attend, written consent will be required.
The shortest period allowed between doses is 21 days but B.C. will move that to eight weeks in order to get a stronger and longer lasting immunity.
Some jurisdictions are saying the COVID vaccine should not be taken within two weeks of other vaccines. That’s so adverse reactions can be more easily tracked but B.C. is not doing that so there’s less risk of vaccines being missed.
This vaccine is designed with different agents and a smaller dose than those older children or adults have been getting so adverse reactions may be fewer.
In the 12-17 year age group, there were 133 adverse reactions in B.C., 14 of which were considered serious, meaning they had to get medical attention or be hospitalized. They have all recovered.
That’s a rate of 2.7 adverse events per 100,000 children. By contrast the rate of infection with COVID is 4,465.5 per 100,000 children.
There have been three million children aged 5-11 immunized in the U.S. with no indication of any increase in adverse effects.
Data provided in the documents show that, during the week of Nov. 16-22, there were 111 new cases of COVID-19 in children aged 0-4 while 457 aged 5-11 were infected. For those aged 12-17, there were 153 cases.
Those aged 12-17 have been eligible for vaccines since May. They are now 85% vaccinated.
READ MORE: Private healthcare providers, dentists to be required to have COVID-19 vaccines
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