Hamilton public health is working on plans to get kids aged five to 11 immunized against COVID-19 as soon as Health Canada approves the Pfizer shot for that age group.
The city will establish two ‘mini mass’ vaccination clinics specifically tailored to children, along with rotating mobile clinics for kids and community-based clinics for what public health calls “harder-to-reach” populations.
Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, the city’s medical officer of health, said the planning involves working with McMaster Children’s Hospital for a specialized hospital hub clinic for children that have additional physical and emotional needs.
She said they’re hoping to have more details on the various strategies to help kids get their shots in the coming weeks.
“We’re just finalizing details on those, looking at what is going to make the most sense, depending on what stage we’re at in the vaccination rollout and when that actually gets approved to move forward.”
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Public health is anticipating strong demand for the COVID-19 vaccine among the younger age group, given the uptake among youth aged 12 to 17.
Of that demographic, 77.8 per cent are fully vaccinated, which is a higher vaccination rate than any other age group under 40 in Hamilton.
Richardson said she expects that uptake will continue in younger kids, although she acknowledged that the five to 11 demographic is different.
“Parents are going to be bringing their children and being part of that process and decision-making, even more so than they were for the 12- to 17-year-olds.”
That means public health will need to combat vaccine hesitancy in those parents that will be involved in the decision whether or not to get their child vaccinated, which is why the strategy will also involve a “population-specific vaccine confidence campaign” to provide up-to-date information on the vaccine’s effectiveness, benefits and potential complications.
It’s not clear when Health Canada is expected to approve Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for children between five and 11.
The agency has said it will only give its approval after thoroughly reviewing the data to make sure the benefits outweigh any potential risks.
During a media briefing on Tuesday, Richardson said part of the planning for the city’s vaccination rollout to kids involves considering whether or not it will coincide with the flu vaccine being available to the general population in November.
“One of the things that was really good to help simplify things was when the National Advisory Committee on Immunization came out and said, you can give the COVID-19 vaccine along with other vaccines — influenza vaccine being one of them but, of course, also other vaccines like the usual childhood vaccines when kids become eligible as well.”
The vast majority of COVID-19 outbreaks in Hamilton over the past month and a half have been in school or child-care settings.
School-related COVID-19 activity hit a peak toward the end of September, with a high of 19 school-related cases reported on one day.
Currently, there are three active outbreaks in local schools: Huntington Park Elementary School, Providence Christian School and Gatestone Elementary Public School.
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