Pfizer has made a submission to Health Canada for regulatory approval of their COVID-19 vaccines for children and we expect a decision to be made in the coming weeks.
Immediately following provincial guidance and direction on the administration of COVID-19 vaccines our team is ready and able to meet the additional demand by scaling operations to seven clinics, seven days a week.
The OPH team has partnered with school boards to proactively plan school pop-up clinics. These targeted pop-up school clinics after educational hours will start no later than seven days after provincial direction and guidance is provided and adequate supply is available in Ottawa.
Parents are encouraged to visit websites at OttawaPublicHealth.ca/ChildCOVID19vaccine and to follow Parenting in Ottawa on Facebook and Instragram for more information and updates on the vaccine roll-out for 5-11 year olds
The prioritization of the first round of school pop-up clinics was done with the objective of lowering the burden of COVID-19 transmission in the 5-11 population. This was done by considering various elements, including the vaccination coverage of the surrounding school community, geographical and school board distribution and other operational considerations including input from school boards. For parents this means that the distribution of school pop-up clinics does include both rural and urban areas and several schools are represented from each school board.
To support parents in planning for their children’s vaccinations Ottawa Public Health will continue to work closely with school boards and proactively share the schedule for these clinics in the coming weeks.
Our partners continue to support the rollout of vaccines for the 5-11 population. As part of ongoing operations will be offering specific clinics for Indigenous populations and CHEO will be hosting vaccinations clinics for medically complex individuals.
This means that on day one, parents with 5-11 year old children will have various options and supports to receive a vaccine as quickly as possible.
