British Columbia parents can register their children ages five to 11 for the COVID-19 vaccine, but it is unclear when they will be able to receive the vaccines.
The province has not promoted early registration for younger children, but an attentive parent alerted Global News to the fact that children in the age range can register through the Get website vaccinated.
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Parents are not yet able to book an appointment for the vaccine, as no COVID-19 vaccine has yet been approved in Canada for children under 12 years of age.
A spokesman for the Health Ministry said on Saturday that registrations had been open “from the beginning.”
“During the pandemic, BC’s approach to vaccine reservation is that we notify people when it is their turn to reserve. Scheduling is based on when it’s your turn, not when you check in, ”the spokesperson said.
“The province is preparing to be able to offer the vaccine to children ages 5 to 11 once it is approved by Health Canada. Public health is carefully monitoring Health Canada’s review of the COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11, and will make science-based decisions for BC. “
Pfizer Inc and BioNTech, the producers of the most common vaccine in Canada, have officially applied for its emergency use for children in the United States.
The companies have submitted their initial trial data for the vaccine regarding children ages five to 11 to Health Canada, and are expected to submit a formal submission for approval of the vaccine in mid-October.
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Children remain the largest segment of unvaccinated British Columbia, and children under the age of 10 make up about half of the estimated 1 million people in the province who have not yet received a dose of the vaccine.
Earlier this week, the independent group BC COVID Modeling Group released data showing an increase in the number of cases in children at some health authorities, which could contribute to further general community spread.
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Reference-globalnews.ca