N.B. falls behind some provinces in COVID-19 vaccine rollout for children under 5
CBC
Eleven days after Health Canada approved a COVID-19 vaccine for infants and preschoolers, New Brunswick still hasn't announced when it plans to open appointments for this age group.
In neighbouring Quebec, vaccinations for children under five got underway Monday, while some other provinces started offering doses last week.
In P.E.I., parents also started booking appointments on Monday.
Nova Scotia announced its rollout plans July 14, the same day Health Canada authorized Moderna's Spikevax vaccine for children aged six months to five years in doses one-quarter the size of the adult shot. The booking system in that province is expected to open in early August.
New Brunswick is "working to make the two-dose vaccine available," said Department of Health spokesperson Adam Bowie.
"Public Health and some participating community pharmacies will begin offering clinics, by appointment only, once plans have been finalized," he said in an emailed statement.
"We expect we'll have more to say very soon."
Bowie did not offer an explanation for the delay.
A month ago, New Brunswick's Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Jennifer Russell, told CBC News that the province would be ready to roll out COVID-19 vaccines to children under five as soon as they were approved.
The province was "watching very closely," she said, and "ready to act on those when they come through."
But as of Monday, the province's COVID-19 website still states: "Currently, the vaccines approved in Canada are not approved for those under the age of 5."
According to Sackville mother Rachelle Pascoe-Deslauriers, the province plans to make the vaccines available in August.
Pascoe-Deslauriers, who is anxious to get her three-year-old daughter vaccinated and frustrated by the lack of public information about the planned rollout, wrote to Health Minister Bruce Fitch, Russell and Public Health last Friday to inquire.
At that time, the Department of Health replied to Pascoe-Deslauriers, saying: "We are currently working on the rollout and will keep the public informed as we proceed. We will have details as we progress, and plan that beginning in August, COVID vaccines will be available for children six months to five years.
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