TORONTO – Ontario says 93,000 appointments have been booked for the COVID-19 vaccine for children ages five to 11 as of Wednesday morning.
The figure covers the provincial reserve system and does not include other reservations made through local public health units, pharmacies, and primary care offices that offer vaccines.
The province opened reservations for children in that age group on Tuesday morning.
Ten children who are patients at SickKids hospital in Toronto became the first in the province to receive pediatric doses of Pfizer-BioNTech on Tuesday afternoon.
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Toronto Children First In Canada To Receive Pediatric COVID-19 Vaccine, Local Officials Say
The children’s clinics are scheduled to start in earnest on Thursday, although some started on Wednesday.
Southwestern Public Health announced a “limited batch” of vaccines being offered at a clinic in Tillonsburg, Ontario, and a handful of clinics in Toronto were also administering the vaccines to young children.
Toronto’s vaccine launch for young children is scheduled for Thursday, with some clinics in schools, doctor’s offices and local communities.
Board of Health Chairman Joe Cressy says city-run clinics will feature stations for selfies, stickers and coloring.
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Ontario Reports Fewer Than 600 New COVID-19 Cases, 7 More Deaths
Other health units plan to continue their first child-focused clinics on Friday and more over the weekend.
Ontario reported 591 new COVID-19 cases and seven more deaths from the virus on Wednesday.
There were 137 people in intensive care with critical illness related to COVID, including 84 patients on ventilators.
As of Tuesday, there were seven Saskatchewan patients in Ontario intensive care units.
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