#appointments #vaccination #young #children
About 6,000 young Quebecers aged six months to four years will receive a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in the coming days or got it on Monday.
Vaccination of this age group began Monday in Quebec, the national director of public health, Luc Boileau, announced last Thursday. Nearly 400,000 Quebec children are newly eligible for the anti-COVID vaccine.
Between July 21 and 25 at 3:00 p.m., some 5,955 appointments were made, according to figures provided by the Ministry of Health and Social Services. However, it was unable to provide the number of young children who received a dose of the vaccine on Monday. These data should be available “in the next few days,” the Ministry’s Communications Subdirectorate said by email.
Although the proportion of newly eligible children who have a vaccination appointment is low at the moment, this number is set to increase in the coming weeks, estimates Olivier Drouin, assistant professor at the CHU Sainte-Justine general pediatrics clinic. “As people come back from vacation and see that it’s going well and there are no complications, I think the excitement will continue to grow. »
The pediatrician also points out that the parents of his little patients are, for the most part, quite “enthusiastic” about vaccination against COVID-19. “Many of them feel powerless to protect their children from the virus, especially since public health measures have decreased,” says Dr.r drin.
Father of a three-year-old girl, Charles Breton has not yet made an appointment for his little girl to receive her first dose, but plans to do so soon.
“My partner is pregnant, so we take precautions,” he says, adding that his entire family, including his other son, seven years old, is vaccinated. “It’s the safest thing to do. »
A mother who lives on the south shore of Montreal, Camille does not share this opinion. “Her father and I still haven’t found it to be a necessary vaccine, especially considering all the ones she’s already received,” she explains. However, she points out that her daughter has received all the vaccines normally recommended for children her age. “But she is in good health, we don’t see the point of her and we prefer not to give her two injections, since she is never a pleasant moment. »
When Duty consulted the Clic Santé platform late Monday afternoon, the availability of appointments for young children was uneven in Montreal: establishments such as the Berri Centre-Sud, Montreal-North and Pointe-Saint-Charles vaccination centers offered many slots the next day at any time of the day. In establishments where vaccination is carried out only once a week, appointments were offered only from the second week of August.
In Estrie and in the Quebec region, several time slots were proposed for the next seven days.
Babies “rarely hospitalized”
The Dr Olivier Drouin points out that the reason most often given by parents who are skeptical about the vaccine is the impression that children are at low risk of complications related to the disease. “It’s true,” he confirms. But some young children had to be hospitalized, some in intensive care. »
A provisional scientific opinion of the Quebec Immunization Committee published on July 14 makes a similar observation. Children aged six months to four years are “just as likely to develop COVID-19 as adults” when exposed to the virus, but are “rarely hospitalized”. However, the notice stresses that they “are at four to five times greater risk of being hospitalized for COVID-19 than youth ages 5 to 17 who are not adequately vaccinated.”
The dose for young children of Moderna’s Spikevax vaccine is a quarter of that given to adults. Last week a delivery of 70,000 doses was made in Quebec.
it’s doing well in the united states
Spikevax for use in young children has also been approved in the United States since June 17.
“Things have been going well in the United States for several weeks and we expect the same in Canada,” explains Dr. Drouin. He notes that Health Canada “continues to monitor the possible effects that vaccination could have” on young children.
As for the possible side effects, these are still very “localized”, explains the pediatrician. “We are talking about a little pain or discomfort, very occasionally fever, but without serious complications. The vaccine is safe. »
The Dr Boileau told a news conference last week that two injections conferred “a very good immune response” for the six-month-to-four-year age group. Some children with weakened immune systems may still need three doses to be adequately protected, while others who have already contracted the virus may stick to one.