Thousands more kids now eligible for vaccine
Province's policy change allows thousands of kids to get inoculated
Owen Jung barely flinched as the needle went in.
“There was a slight pinch at the beginning and now I feel like I got punched in the arm,” he reported when it was done. “But it's fine.”
Jung was among the 11-year-olds turning 12 this year who became eligible to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in Ontario as of this week.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore announced the policy change on Tuesday after weeks of pressure from parents and others. Previously, the province maintained that it couldn't include children turning 12 later this year for legal reasons, although other provinces had chosen to do so. Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for children 12 and up in Canada.
The policy change allows thousands of Ontario children who turn 12 in 2021 to get vaccinated as they prepare to head back to school amid a fourth wave of the pandemic driven by the highly contagious Delta variant.
Jung, who turns 12 in November, would not have been able to get vaccinated until then despite the fact that most of his classmates will be vaccinated when he starts school. That changed this week.
“I am happy because I can do more things now,” he said after receiving his first dose of Pfizer vaccine.
His mother, Wendy Carroll, was also happy.
“It makes me feel a little bit more comfortable. It definitely feels better to know that he is among the vaccinated. It was frustrating with his birthday just in November.”
Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrth, the family physician who has vaccinated thousands this year through her mass Jabapaloozas, put out the call as soon as the announcement was made that she would have vaccines available for children turning 12 this year.
“It is really a relief for me as the doctor for my own patients and for parents knowing that their children are going to be able to go to school vaccinated,” Kaplan-Myrth said.
Eleven-year-old Fenna Irish said she was relieved when the immunization was over, happy to have it done.
“Mostly just to not worry about going into places.”
Being vaccinated might also allow her to travel see her grandfather in Europe this fall, said her mother, Anette Wenderoth.