Children between the ages of six months and five years are now officially eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in Saskatchewan.
At 8am on Friday morning, bookings for the vaccine opened online: Vaccination against COVID-19 | Vaccine against COVID-19 | Government of Saskatchewan.
The province received a supply of about 13,000 doses of the vaccine in its first shipment on Thursday. The second shipment is expected to arrive in August. The arrival date is not yet available.
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“They will be phased in,” said Sheila Anderson, executive director of primary health care at SHA.
“Our goal is to make the vaccine as affordable as possible with the limited doses we have. We have about 50 sites across the province. We will be offering a blended walk-in and booked appointment model.”
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Clinics will begin administering the vaccines on Friday or later, Anderson said.
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However, pharmacists will not be able to give immunizations to children under five. Instead, they will receive their vaccines through a SHA partner agency provider.
This is the first COVID-19 vaccine approved for children under the age of five, who until now could not be immunized against the virus. The vaccine will be administered in two doses. A second dose can be given 28 days after receiving the first dose.
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This means that children under five will need to receive two shots to be considered fully vaccinated. Anderson said there are 70,000 children in Saskatchewan between the ages of six months and four years.
“SHA will likely fully administer these 13,000 doses before the next vaccine shipment arrives in August,” the news release said.
Children who have had COVID-19 must wait eight weeks before receiving the vaccine.
Immunocompromised children should wait four to eight weeks between doses. Other children should wait eight weeks between doses.
1:36 Saskatchewan to launch COVID-19 vaccination for children 6 months to 5 years this week Saskatchewan to launch COVID-19 vaccination for children 6 months to 5 years this week
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