Chatham-Kent Public Health is planning to get local children aged 5-11 vaccinated against COVID-19 by using a multi-faceted approach when the shots are approved for use in Canada.
Chatham-Kent Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Colby said there will be vaccination clinics at local schools and at the Bradley Centre in Chatham. He hopes pharmacies and doctors will be enlisted to get this group vaccinated.
Colby anticipates the vaccine for children will be approved by Health Canada sometime this month.
"We're planning very vigorously to be able to embrace that as soon as it happens," said Colby.
He said the previous local school clinics for the population 12 and older worked very well.
Colby said if parents are hesitant about their children being vaccinated, they shouldn't be and should stick to credible medical and scientific sources for information.
The doctor said we're all tired of the pandemic and COVID-19 restrictions and he insists the COVID-19 vaccine is safe and very effective against serious illness and transmission to others.
"The greater the proportion of the total population that we have vaccinated, the quicker that this pandemic will be brought to an end," said Colby. "As long as we have a large number of unvaccinated people, there is the potential for this to explode once again. I can't see how somebody would not choose to protect their loved ones."
Meanwhile, Chatham-Kent is also changing the way it vaccinates the public in order to meet the demand for the third doses.
The local public health unit announced on Thursday that walk-ins for vaccines will no longer be accepted and clinics are going back to appointments only for the COVID-19 vaccine.
Vulnerable populations at higher risk of infection can now get their booster shots at least six months after getting their last dose because evidence shows immunity gradually decreases six months after the second dose.
The province announced on Wednesday that individuals aged 70 and over, health care workers, people who received two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine or one dose of the Janssen vaccine, and First Nation, Inuit and Métis adults and their non-Indigenous household members are eligible for the boosters to give them extra protection against the Delta variant. Ontario is also prepared to gradually roll out booster doses to all residents aged 12 and over during the coming months.
Eligible Chatham-Kent residents looking to book their third dose are asked to book an appointment at www.GetYourShotCK.ca or call 519-351-1010.
Colby also said vaccine programs targeted at the homeless have not been as successful as he would have liked because the homeless population is difficult to reach, but overall have worked well to get those residents protected.
