B.C. children aged 5-11 will be able to get vaccinated against COVID-19 starting Nov. 29

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Children must be 5 years of age in order to receive the child-size vaccination. Children age 11 will be able to get the pediatric vaccine, but if they turn 12 between getting the first and second dose, then they will receive the adult-sized dose for their second jab. The clinics that will administer the child-size vaccine will all be family-friendly environments.

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“Whether it’s a unique clinic or a mixed clinic where we’re also [vaccinating] some adults, we will have specific and unique child-friendly, child-appropriate attributes of those spaces to make sure children feel comfortable, that their parents feel comfortable, that there’s room for children and their parents and other family members, and that they have the time that’s needed to get them vaccinated and, as you’ll see, special quiet places if a child is having a difficulty,”said Dr. Penny Ballem, executive lead of the B.C. immunization rollout team.

“We need this to be aligned with best practice around childhood vaccination.”

There will also be ‘family clinics’ established in select communities across B.C. to serve just children age 5 to 11 to streamline the vaccination process.

The province is recommending an interval of 8 weeks between doses for children, as the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) has determined that time period yields the greatest immunity response.

Parents, guardians, siblings and other family members who have not received their doses are encouraged to register themselves for the vaccinations at the same time and clinic as their children.

The child-size vaccines are arriving in B.C. this week, and will be distributed to the health authorities then to clinics in the following days.

The province notes that the health authorities will establish which clinics will be available for administering these doses, adding that some schools and community sites may host pop-up clinics to allow for easier access.

Parents and guardians must give consent to have their child immunized against COVID-19, and it’s advised that they provide that consent verbally and in-person at the clinic, though it is noted that a written letter that includes a parent or guardian’s contact information may also be accepted in some cases.

The province recommends that the COVID-19 vaccinations not be administered within two weeks of any other vaccines to ensure that any adverse events from any immunization can traced to a specific shot, though that time line will not prohibit a child from getting a shot if the parent or guardian wishes to get their child vaccinated.

Cases in school age children have been on the decline since the spike at the start of the school year, but the Ministry of Health said it’s still important to get the jabs as children make up a large number of new cases.

Of the 2,845 new cases of the virus recorded in B.C. in the past week, children aged 5-11 accounted for 457, or 16 per cent. Comparatively, 111 children age 0-4 tested positive for COVID-19 during the week, while 153 youth aged 12-17 contracted the virus.

It’s noted that there were no deaths or hospitalizations in any of those age groups over the past week. Dr. Bonnie Henry stated Tuesday that while it’s positive to see those figures on the decline, it’s also important to remember that children are not completely immune to COVID-19.

“This virus, thankfully, does not cause a severe disease in most children, but as we’ve seen as cases and numbers have increased and transmission has increased, particularly with the Delta variant that we’re seeing now, children are not immune and some of them will have severe illness and will require critical care. And we know that there’s also been long-COVID in some children as well as 19 children have been admitted to hospital with MIS (multisystem inflamatory syndrome) caused by COVID-19,” said Henry.

Data from the Ministry of Health also shows chance of contracting COVID-19 remains much higher for unvaccinated kids.

Between July 18 and November 16, the infection rate for youth age 12 to 17 per 100,000 was 4,476.5 who were unvaccinated compared to 351.7 were fully immunized. There has also been 37.3 unvaccinated youth per 100,000 population hospitalized with COVID-19, while no fully immunized youths were administered to hospital due to the virus during that period of time.

Per 100,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses, there was just 2.7 adverse events, which translated to 133 total cases, a majority of which were non serious side effects such as headaches, soreness or rashes around injection site. Of those instances, 14 required hospitalization due to serious side effects, though all have recovered. This compares to the 19 cases of MIS that have been reported in unvaccinated youth.