COVID-19 shot bookings for KFL&A kids 5-11 only available on local website

KFL&A Public Health says COVID-19 vaccines from children five to 11 years old will not be showing up on the provincial booking system Tuesday morning, but will be available on a local online booking tool for the KFL&A region.

Those bookings will be available Tuesday at 8 a.m. at the local booking site found here.

“Booking through KFL&A Public Health’s online tool offers the fastest access to available local clinic appointments,” the health unit said in a news release Monday.

According to Dr. Gerald Evans, young children have accounted for one third of COVID-19 cases in the region recently, and that getting them vaccinated will help with a surge in local cases.

Over the past month, nearly 100 COVID-19 cases have been recorded among children aged 5 to 11 years, and since the start of the pandemic, 2,400 children have been required to isolate and miss school due to identification as a close contact of COVID-19, the health unit said.

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After Health Canada approved COVID-19 vaccinations for the five to 11 age group last week, Pfizer told Global News it was shipping 2.9 million doses of pediatric COVID-19 vaccines to Canada. These smaller child-sized doses will then be distributed across the country to administered to local children.

Last week, KFL&A Public Health said it was gearing up to immunize 13,000 local kids.

2:40 COVID-19 vaccine appointments can be booked Tuesday for Ontario kids 5 to 11

“Children have amazingly good response to vaccines. In other words, they develop antibodies with a much smaller dose of any antigen we give them,” Evans said in an interview Monday.

Just like adults, children must receive two doses of the vaccine to be considered fully vaccinated. The health unit says recommendations are that the second dose is administered a minimum of eight weeks after the first.

The health unit said it will not be administering shots to children without appointments. For more information about vaccinations, visit the health unit’s website.