N.B. COVID-19 roundup: 62 cases, vaccination of young children expected to begin this week
CBC
Public Health reported 62 new cases of COVID-19 Monday and anticipates the province will begin vaccinating children aged five to 11 before the end of the week.
The first shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine for children in this age group is expected to arrive in the province Tuesday, according to a news release.
"The vaccine will be distributed throughout the province and it is anticipated that the first doses will be administered before the end of the week through regional health authority community clinics and participating pharmacies," the release said.
About 54,500 children will be eligible to receive the vaccine.
Health Canada approved its use Friday for children aged five to 11.
New Brunswick children who will turn five by Dec. 31, 2021, will also be eligible, said Department of Health spokesperson Gail Harding.
"Children born between 2010 and 2016 are eligible to receive the COVID-19 pediatric vaccine," she told CBC News.
Two weeks before school started, New Brunswick expanded eligibility for those aged 12 to 17 to include children who turn 12 this year. Youth aged 12 to 17 have been eligible for vaccination in the province since May 26.
Health Canada authorized a two-dose regimen for kids five to 11 years old, to be administered three weeks apart.
The National Advisory Committee on Immunization, however, recommends the spacing between doses be increased to at least eight weeks, as evidence has been growing that a longer interval generates a more robust immune response.
The longer spacing might also help to decrease even further the risk of the rare side effect of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, NACI said.
The news release from Public Health did not indicate what the spacing between doses in New Brunswick will be.
Appointments for first and second doses, as well as for booster doses for those eligible, can be scheduled for a regional health authority community vaccination clinic through the online booking system or at a participating pharmacy.
A list of upcoming mobile and walk-in clinics is available online.
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