Saskatchewan children six months to five years of age will now be able to able to get a COVID-19 vaccine as bookings start Thursday and Friday.
The province will be receiving a supply of around 13,000 doses of the vaccine in its first delivery on Thursday. A second shipment is expected to arrive in August but a final date is not available yet.
Bookings open 8.45 a.m. Thursday. Parents and guardians of immunocompromised children can call 1-833-Sask-VAX (1-833-727-5829) to book for multiple children in a household.
Starting Friday, appointments can be booked for all other children in that age group online at saskatchewan.ca/COVID19-vaccine starting at 8:00 a.m.
“They will be rolled out in a staged approach. Our goal is to make the vaccine as accessible as possible with the limited doses that we have on hand. We have about 50 sites across the province. We’ll be offering in a blended model of walk-ins and booked appointments,” said Sheila Anderson, executive director of primary health care with SHA.
Clinics will start administering the vaccines on Friday or later, Anderson said.
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Children who have had COVID-19 should wait eight weeks before getting the shot.
Immunocompromised children should wait four to eight weeks between infection and between doses.
Other children should wait wait eight weeks between doses, according to a news release.
This is the first COVID-19 vaccine approved for children below five, who until now could not be immunized against the virus. The vaccine will be administered in two doses which means children this age will have to get two shots to be considered fully vaccinated.
Anderson said that there are 70,000 children aged six months to four years in Saskatchewan that will need around 35,000 doses to match the uptick of the population of older children that has already been eligible
“It is likely that the SHA will fully administer these 13,000 doses before the next vaccine delivery arrives in August,” the news release said.
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