On Tuesday, the province opened vaccinations to children older than six months and younger than five years. For parent Megan Santiago Klassen, it was an opportunity she didn’t hesitate to take for her children — the same day it was announced. “We got here as fast as we could,” she told CBC News outside a Fraser Health vaccine clinic in Abbotsford, BC, after her two young children Mina and Enez were vaccinated on Tuesday. “It seems to be an important part of keeping our communities safe.” Her children are just two of more than 200,000 children who are now eligible for their first of two shots. Only the Spikevax mRNA vaccine, produced by the pharmaceutical company Moderna, is approved by Health Canada for children under five. The allowable dose for this age group is a quarter of the dose given to people over 12 years of age and is the first of two injections recommended by experts, four weeks apart. BC’s provincial health officer said the vaccine has been shown to be safe for children and her team closely monitored safety data before deciding to open vaccinations to younger ages. “These vaccines have been tested extensively now,” Dr. Bonnie Henry told reporters at an immunization clinic on Tuesday. “We know they work and we know they’re safe.” Children ages 5-11 were approved to be vaccinated against COVID-19 last fall. On Tuesday, people between the ages of six months and four years became eligible to make an appointment for the COVID-19 vaccine in BC (CBC) Health Canada’s decision two weeks ago came “after a thorough and independent scientific review of the evidence,” the federal ministry said in a July 14 statement. “The benefits of this vaccine for children between the ages of six months and five years outweigh the potential risks.” Experts say that while COVID-19 is known to give children mild symptoms, there are exceptions, and they say it’s important to offer them protection — even if they’ve already contracted the virus during the pandemic. Doing so not only protects them, but also others who are vulnerable to the virus, explained Marie Tarrant, a professor of nursing at the University of British Columbia and an expert on infant and maternal health, including vaccinations. “It’s a mild disease in most children, but not in all children,” he said. “And there are a lot of kids who end up in the hospital with COVID.” But reactions among parents seem to have been mixed. A vaccine dose half that given to adults was approved for children aged between five and 11 last November. Since then, 46 per cent of BC children in those ages have had both recommended doses — the lowest vaccination rate among all age groups in the province, according to BC data. On The Coast6:42 Dr. Brian Conway on COVID-19 vaccines available for children under 5 Children under 5 can be vaccinated against Covid-19 from today. We hear from Dr. Brian Conway, Medical Director of the Vancouver Center for Infectious Diseases. Dr. Brian Conway, medical director of the Vancouver Infectious Disease Center, said the newly approved age group has been carefully studied with no significant side effects. But while the risk of severe COVID-19 illness is low for infants, “it’s not zero,” he said. “In most cases they don’t get very sick,” he told CBC’s On the Coast on Tuesday. “The risk of long-term COVID is probably what worries me the most. “So if you’re two or three years old, it would be a long process and we’d like to avoid that.” Conway said the next few weeks are especially important for children of all ages, as many return to daycare or school early next month. “As a parent or guardian, you want the best for your child,” the government said in a Facebook post on Tuesday. “If you need more specific or detailed information or have questions, please consult a healthcare provider.”
