inspiring canadians to live better.

healthing leaf

inspiring canadians to live better.

healthing leaf
get healthing in your inbox with the morning checkup and weekender newsletter!
home / 世界杯决赛2022

'a really memorable day': alberta begins covid-19 vaccinations for children under five

vaccine appointments can be made through alberta’s online booking system, or by calling health link at 811.

by jason herring
published aug 02, 2022
read time 4 minute read
join the conversation
read time 4 minute read
join the conversation
a nurse prepares the pfizer-biontech covid-19 vaccine in montreal, quebec on november 24, 2021. andrej ivanov/afp via getty images
parents and guardians of nearly all young albertans can now book appointments for their children to be immunized against covid-19. alberta opened vaccine eligibility for children between six months and five years old tuesday morning, meaning about 234,000 infants and preschoolers in the province are newly eligible for the shots.
vaccine appointments can be made through alberta’s online booking system, or by calling health link at 811.
“everyone just can’t wait to protect their babies and their children,” said sara borchiellini with vaccine hunters alberta. the grassroots group advocates for albertans to get immunized and helps them book appointments. other than a few hiccups, tuesday morning’s rollout appeared to go smoothly, borchiellini said.
“a lot of albertans here have moved on. they’ve gotten their vaccines many, many months ago and they feel they’ve gotten the protection they need. but those families with the little kids haven’t had the opportunity to protect their kids, so this is a really memorable day for a lot of parents.”
health canada approved moderna’s pediatric covid-19 vaccine for kids between six months and five years old on july 14. the doses are about one-quarter the size of those given to adults. the federal regulator said it determined the vaccine is safe and effective at preventing covid-19 in children in the age group, and said it will continue to monitor its safety as it rolls out.
powered by
canadian centre for caregiving excellence
story continues below
alberta was the last province or territory in canada to open immunizations for the younger children, announcing its vaccine rollout plan on friday before the heritage day long weekend.
the sluggish launch relative to other provinces sparked some frustrations among parents eager to give their kids vaccine protection.
“i’ve been waiting expectedly for the approvals and trying to get any information about the rollout has been intensely difficult,” said calgary parent amanda hu, who booked a same-day vaccine appointment for her child when bookings opened tuesday morning.
“it was frustrating to know the vaccines had been approved for a few weeks and that there were certain jurisdictions that were starting to make plans, and there was just radio silence from the alberta government.”
alberta had received 46,700 doses of the vaccine as of july 28, according to a federal government tracker. alberta health said data on bookings made tuesday would likely be released in the afternoon.
parents will have to take their children to alberta health services sites for the shots, as pharmacies have a scope of practice to immunize only those age five or older.
a recent university of alberta study published in the journal preventive medicine provides some insight into expected uptake of the new vaccine offering.
powered by
obesity matters
story continues below
that research found 41.9 per cent of canadian parents with children aged six months to 23 months planned to get their kids immunized, compared to 45.4 per cent of parents with children aged two to four.
those numbers would mark a decline in uptake for alberta, where 50.2 per cent of children aged five to 11 have received at least one dose of vaccine.
borchiellini encouraged parents on the fence about the immunizations to book shots for their kids. she said that’s especially important as many children return to schools and daycares next month.
“this is one of the many protections that you can give your kid, and it’s one of the most important ones as well,” she said. “not all kids are bouncing back after they get covid. vaccines are there to help prevent serious illness and death, and as parents, that’s all we want, to protect our kids.”
children under the age of five are at a greater risk of hospitalization from covid-19 than kids aged five to 11, according to provincial data.
throughout the pandemic, albertans less than a year old have been hospitalized with the virus at a rate nearly five times that of the age one to four cohort. and those aged one to four were hospitalized at about three times the rate of those aged five to nine.
story continues below
hu said she hopes vaccines will help protect against those outcomes.
“i think there was a misconception that we don’t need to vaccinate kids for covid because it wasn’t severe in children, but it’s turned out vaccination is the thing that reduces severe illness,” hu said.
“overall, i just feel really grateful we’re able to do it, and i really hope other parents are thinking about doing the same because it does matter.”
elsewhere, alberta opened fourth doses of covid-19 vaccine in mid-july to all albertans 18 and older if at least five months have passed since their third shot. just more than 250,000 alberta adults have had that fourth dose as of july 25, representing about seven per cent of that cohort.
the rollout comes amid concerns over a new wave of virus infections driven by the ba.5 sub-variant of omicron, which is currently the most common strain of virus in alberta.
data tracking the prevalence of the virus in wastewater indicates rising infections in both the calgary and edmonton areas in july.
—with files from madeline smith
jherring@postmedia.com
twitter: @jasonfherring
jason herring
jason herring

jason herring is a reporter and editor at the calgary herald and calgary sun, joining the papers in 2019. he graduated from the university of calgary, where he was the editor of the school's student newspaper, the gauntlet. he is an avid cinephile and an amateur crossword puzzle constructor.

read more about the author

comments

postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. we ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. we have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. visit our community guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.