Manitoba is expanding eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine to include children under the age of five, but due to a temporary shortage of doses, the province is prioritizing children with certain medical conditions and those who are First Nations, Métis and Inuit.
“I know this day is a day many parents have been waiting for for a long time. Many will feel that sense of relief that their child now qualifies,” Manitoba Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Rusin said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
“This vaccine has a very safe profile and is effective.”
Health Canada approved the two-dose Moderna vaccine for children ages six months to four years last week. The dosage is approximately one quarter of the dosage given to adults.
There are approximately 76,700 children in the under-five age group in Manitoba, but the province only received 14,900 doses in the first delivery, Rusin said.
As a result, when booking for the doses opens on Monday, July 25 at 8am, it will initially be limited to children who are First Nations, Inuit or Métis, or have any of the following health conditions:
- Chronic lung disease.
- Abnormalities of the respiratory tract.
- Congenital or chronic heart or blood diseases.
- Moderately to severely immune compromised due to medical condition or treatment.
- Neurological disorders (including developmental delay).
- Diabetes, chronic kidney disease, or chronic disease associated with preterm birth.
Eligibility will expand to include more children in the under-five age group when more vaccines are delivered to the province, Rusin said. The second shipment of vaccine is expected in late July or early August.
The first doses are expected to arrive at the end of this week and then be sent to various sites, including regional vaccine centers, public health services and medical clinics. The province is also working with First Nations leadership to coordinate distribution in their communities.
They will not be available in pharmacies as pharmacists cannot legally immunize children in this age group, at least for now.
Pharmacists are ready to help
Rusin pointed out that public health may turn to pharmacists for help at some point, and Pharmacists Manitoba says it is ready and willing.
“Pharmacists across the province are certainly prepared and ready to help keep our community safe in any way possible. So if the province calls on us to help immunize younger children, we’re ready to step in,” said Tim Smith, the organization’s pharmacy practice consultant.
Barbara Violo, pharmacist and owner of The Junction Chemist Pharmacy, prepares a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in Toronto. Manitoba pharmacists say their members are ready and willing to help vaccinate young children if regulations are expanded to allow it. (Nathan Dennett/The Canadian Press)
Other jurisdictions like Ontario allow pharmacists to immunize children as young as two years old, and Smith says it’s not much different than vaccinating other age groups.
“There may be some additional training that may be recommended or there may be additional training that may be required. We’ll just have to wait and see what the discussions between the government and the Manitoba College of Pharmacists and ourselves look like,” Smith said.
Reservations will be available through the online vaccine finder or through the vaccine call center at 1-844-626-8222, the province says.
For those who need to book appointments for more than one child, the province recommends calling instead of booking online to get appointments as close together as possible.
Children can have severe outcomes from COVID: Rusin
Although children in the under-five age group don’t see severe results from COVID-19 as often as adults, Rusin said it’s still important to protect them.
“We have seen hard [COVID-19] results … in children who didn’t even have significant health problems, so it’s certainly happening,” he said.
“Definitely recommend [vaccination] … especially in this cohort right now, which represents the higher-risk kids.”
WATCH | Dr. Rusin says that children can get seriously ill from COVID-19:
Severe outcomes in children are rare but possible
Dr. Brent Rusin encourages all caregivers and parents to vaccinate their children under five against COVID-19 because, although rare, it is possible for relatively healthy children to become very ill.
Rusin encouraged parents and caregivers of children who are not considered at higher risk to vaccinate them when they are eligible.
The province recommends that children in this age group wait eight weeks between the first and second doses of the vaccine.
The National Immunization Advisory Committee recommends that children who have had other vaccines wait two weeks before receiving their COVID-19 vaccine to monitor for possible side effects. Manitoba’s approach is consistent with that of NACI, but children who received a different vaccine within 14 days will not be rejected.
To date, more than three million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to people living in Manitoba, the province says.
Approximately 43 percent of children ages five to 11 are considered fully immunized with at least two doses, while nearly 80 percent of youth ages 12 to 17 have at least two doses of the vaccine.
WATCH | Full press conference on COVID-19 | July 20, 2022:
Manitoba Government Briefing on the Coronavirus: July 20, 2022
Dr. Brent Rusin Gives Manitoba COVID-19 Update: Wednesday, July 20, 2022
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