COVID-19: Youth 12 and older can register for vaccine but won’t get the jab in schools

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Children aged 12 and older can now register for their COVID-19 vaccination, although most parents won’t find vaccine clinics in schools, which has the B.C. Teachers’ Federation concerned about barriers to access.

Health Minister Adrian Dix told reporters Wednesday that vaccination clinics won’t be set up in schools, but youth 12 and older can be immunized in the “extraordinarysystemofclinics” already operating around the province.

Teachers’ Federation president Teri Mooring said she is concerned this will leave behind students whose parents cannot take time off work to get them vaccinated or might have difficulties getting to a vaccination clinic.

“We’re advocating for students to receive vaccines in schools,” Mooring told Postmedia on Wednesday. “For many of our students, having to make an appointment in a community centre and go at a specific time to get vaccinated is going to present a significant barrier.”

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The province isn’t taking these barriers, which disproportionately impact low-income or vulnerable students, seriously enough, Mooring said.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry will release more details on the vaccination plan for youth 12 and older on Thursday, but she has previously said vaccination clinics will not be widespread in schools.

One exception, Dix said, is that vaccination clinics might be set up at schools in smaller communities where those buildings are the major community hub.

“But generally, we’re using our currentclinicsystemtoserveeverybodyinB.C.,including children 12 and older,” he said.

Some secondary schools have more than 1,000 students, which would make it logistically feasible to safely host vaccination clinics, Mooring said. “During the pandemic, I think it behooves all of us to ensure that it’s convenient and easy for families to have their children vaccinated.”

Following Health Canada’s approval of the Pfizer vaccine for use with children as young as 12, Henry said the province would aim to immunize the 300,000 B.C. youth between the ages of 12 and 17 by the end of June.

Doctors and epidemiologists have said that vaccinating children may be key to helping B.C. achieve herd immunity. Mooring has heard about some vaccine hesitancy among parents who aren’t sure whether the vaccine is safe for their kids, and said teachers and school staff are essential partners in providing as much education as possible about vaccine efficacy and clinical trials done on children.

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A B.C. toddler died in April as a result of COVID-19, and there have been several cases of multi-system inflammatory syndrome reported in children in the province since the start of the pandemic.

Dix encouraged all British Columbians 12 and older to register through the province’s Get Vaccinated website, especially considering the province’s ample vaccine supply with more than 300,000 doses of Pfizer and Moderna arriving each week continuing into June. B.C. received 276,120 doses of Pfizer and 142,500 doses of Moderna this week.

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Dix said he is seeing more young people register to book their vaccines. As of May 18, a total of 454,185 people between the ages of 18 and 29 had registered for the vaccine, 55.6 per cent of the eligible people in that age cohort. The age cohort with the highest registration is adults between 60 to 69, with 503,393 people registered, 74.7 per cent of those eligible in that age category.

More than 2.69 million British Columbians have registered to get the vaccine, and B.C. has administered 2.49 million first doses of the vaccine and 35,246 second doses.

Children younger than 12 might have to wait until the end of the year to get their jab because clinical trials for those ages are still ongoing.

kderosa@postmedia.com

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