Pfizer’s vaccine for kids between 5 and 11 will be in our province by the end of this week.
However, those shots won’t go into arms until December 2nd.
Dr. Robert Strang said they aren’t opening booking for that age group until they know exactly when the vaccine will be here.
Dr. Strang said the smaller-dose vaccine is safe for kids and will protect them from the virus, but vaccinating kids will help slow the spread of COVID-19 across the board.
“It’s not just about protecting kids from getting severely ill, they can get severely ill from COVID-19,” he said. “It’s about, also, their ability to spread to others who have greater risk for severe illness.”
He said they expect to be able to give vaccines to 80 per cent of the province’s 65,000 kids in that age group before Christmas.
Dr. Strang said kids will have to wait eight weeks between shots, and if they become 12 in that time, their second dose with be the full-sized adult vaccine.
The shots will be given out through pharmacies and the IWK.
