Thousands of Maritime children prepare for COVID-19 vaccine
Thousands of children aged five to 11-years-old across the Maritimes are preparing to get their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
As of Saturday, more than ten thousand appointments had been booked in New Brunswick. In Nova Scotia, parents were quick to jump online when bookings opened Friday.
Judy Harvey was one of them. Her son just turned 12 and will be vaccinated Dec. 9.
“I've always wanted it since last year but I couldn't get it because I was 11 and yeah I think it's going to be really good,” her son Darius said.
Twins Rori and Georgia Gillis are also counting down the days.
Their mother, Holly Gillis, is the director of public health with Nova Scotia Public Health. The 11-year-old girls understand the disruptions COVID-19 has caused by cancelling classes at school and sports.
Georgia knows why she wants the vaccine.
“So I can do my sports and go out to eat,” she said.
“More protected and safe,” her twin sister Rori said.
IWK Pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Jeannette Comeau says no corners have been cut in approving these vaccines.
Comeau said the data provided by Pfizer evaluated more than 3000 children who received the vaccine, evaluating its efficacy and its side effects.
She says side effects may include a sore arm or a fever but if that happens, she recommends treating the child with medication.
“In the clinical trials there were actually no cases of myocarditis or pericarditis in the children,” she said, adding the extremely rare side effect is much more likely to occur if someone contracts COVID-19.
“We’re watching very closely.”
COVID-19 vaccines for children are a third of the dose given to adolescents and adults and have now been widely administered in the United States after it was approved about a month ago.
“We continue to have an active surveillance program even after we’ve approved vaccines so we’re continuing to monitor, continuing to make sure the safety profile is as it looked. So I’m very confident in these vaccines,” she said.
For anyone who is nervous about getting vaccines - a feeling she says is very normal, Dr. Comeau encourages people looking at some of the resources created by the IWK.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.