Eleven days after Health Canada approved a COVID-19 vaccine for infants and preschoolers, New Brunswick has yet to announce when it plans to open appointments for that age group.
In neighboring Quebec, vaccinations for children under five began on Monday, while other provinces began offering doses last week.
In PEI, parents also started booking appointments on Monday.
Nova Scotia announced its launch plans on July 14, the same day Health Canada authorized Moderna’s Spikevax vaccine for children six months to five years old in doses one-quarter the size of the vaccine for to adults The reservation system in this province is expected to open in early August.
New Brunswick is “working to make the two-dose vaccine available,” said Adam Bowie, a spokesman for the Department of Health.
“Public Health and some participating community pharmacies will begin offering clinics, by appointment only, once plans are finalized,” he said in an emailed statement.
“We hope to have more to say very soon.”
It was committed a month ago to be ready for launch
New Brunswick’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Jennifer Russell, told CBC News a month ago that the province would be ready to roll out COVID-19 vaccines to children under five as soon as they are approved.
The province “was watching very closely,” he said, and “was ready to act on those when they came.”
But as of Monday, the province’s COVID-19 website still says: “Currently, vaccines approved in Canada are not approved for children under 5 years of age.”
According to Sackville’s mother, Rachelle Pascoe-Deslauriers, the province plans to make the vaccines available in August.
Pascoe-Deslauriers, who is anxious to vaccinate her three-year-old daughter and frustrated by the lack of public information about the planned launch, wrote to Health Minister Bruce Fitch, Russell and Public Health last Friday to ask.
At the time, the Department of Health responded to Pascoe-Deslauriers, saying: “We are currently working on the rollout and will keep the public informed as we move forward. We will have details as we move forward and plan for this from August, COVID The vaccines will be available for children aged six months to five years.
“Please note that the situation is fluid and information is changing daily. We encourage you to visit our dedicated COVID-19 website for the most up-to-date information.”
Rachelle Pascoe-Deslauriers, the mother of a three-year-old girl in Sackville, says the province should at least update its COVID-19 website to reflect that a vaccine has now been approved for children under five and indicate that appointments will be available soon. (Submitted by Rachelle Pascoe-Deslauriers)
Pascoe-Deslauriers doesn’t understand what’s taking so long, “especially compared to other provinces,” and calls the outdated and inaccurate information on the government website about the vaccine’s approval status “unacceptable,” noting that the place is “supposed to be his number”. a point of contact for people.”
Although her daughter does not have any health conditions that would put her at increased risk for COVID-19, she does have elderly relatives who would like to visit.
“We want to keep people safe, as well as keep them safe. And that’s very important,” Pascoe-Deslauriers said.
“Their exposure through daycare is, you know, a huge source of illness or bringing disease into our home, right? Because daycares and schools are for many parents, their families. So it’s just about making sure everyone has all of the best protections available, especially because there are so few public health protections left.”
Children between the ages of six months and five years will be given a dose of Moderna’s Spikevax vaccine about a quarter of what is given to adults. (Garrett Barry/CBC)
New Brunswick plans to offer the vaccine to children between the ages of six months and five years with at least an eight-week gap between the first and second doses, according to a Department of Health spokesperson.
For all children in this age group who are moderately to severely immunocompromised, three doses with four to eight weeks between doses are recommended, Bowie said.
Initially, the vaccine will be given within 14 days after other vaccines, he added.
Officials with the New Brunswick Pharmacists Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Saskatchewan opened appointments for children under five last week, Manitoba opened appointments on Monday while Ontario plans to open appointments on Thursday.
Dating is also expected to begin in the Yukon this week and next week in BC. In Nunavut, vaccines were expected to be available starting last week.