Waterloo Region will be ready to begin vaccinating children aged 5 to 11 with the children’s COVID-19 vaccine on Friday.
The region says the province has notified it the vaccine will arrive in two shipments over the coming days.
The region also says on Tuesday the vaccination booking portal will also begin allowing caregivers of kids in that age group to begin booking appointments at regional clinics.
On Friday, the chief of the vaccination task force told reporters the region is hoping to vaccinate interested kids in this age group by the holidays.
“I would suggest that it’s going to take us two to three weeks to run all of those children through our clinics, through our primary care offices, through our pharmacies, and my hope is they will all have had the opportunity to be vaccinated with the first dose before the holiday season,” Vickie Murray said.
There are about 48,000 kids in that age group in the area. Murray told the Board of Health last week that it’s expected 50-70 per cent of the age group (between 24,000 and 36,000 kids) will want to be vaccinated quickly.
Sufficient appointments will be open over the next four weeks to make that happen, says the health unit. Some doctors and pharmacies will also be able to provide vaccination to the children.
Children in this age group will be able to get a second vaccine dose, eight weeks after receiving their first dose.
The region says Cambridge Pinebush and The Boardwalk and Wellesley will focus their efforts on kids from Nov. 28 through Dec. 12. Adults looking to get a booster shot will have to do it before Friday or wait until Dec. 13.
The Pinebush clinic will be looking to vaccinate around 6,000 kids on the weekend of Dec. 11-12.
Waterloo region warns some Doctor’s offices and pharmacies may also be focussing their efforts on kids.
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