The vaccination of 11-year-old children who will turn 12 by the end of the year has resumed in the London-region.
The Middlesex London Health Unit restarted the task of getting the COVID-19 vaccine into the arms of kids born in 2009 and earlier as of 8 a.m. on Wednesday.
It comes less than a week after the health unit was instructed by the province to halt the vaccination effort for the youngsters as it was not yet approved by Health Canada. But on Tuesday, the Ontario government did a 180 of its own and announced any child in the province born in 2009 that has not yet reached their 12th birthday can receive the Pfizer vaccine. The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is the only one that has thus far been approved for children in Canada.
The province said its decision to expand eligibility to the younger group was based on advice from Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore and after data from other provinces that have already made the move showed no adverse reactions. Alberta, British Columbia, and Manitoba had previously begun vaccinating kids turning 12 this year.
Despite the initial confusion and flip-flopping, the London-area's associate medical officer of health said this is good news for children and families.
"We are excited to now be able to offer the Pfizer vaccine to all youth born in 2009 in order to protect them from COVID-19 and the Delta variant,” Dr. Alex Summers said in a statement. “In order to ensure a safe return to the classroom in September, eligible youth and their families should get vaccinated as soon as possible.”
Walk-ins are being accepted at all four of the health unit's mass vaccination clinics. As well, appointments can still be booked online at www.covidvaccinelm.ca. There are also a number of walk-in, pop-up vaccination clinics being held in the coming weeks across the city and county. A complete list of the pop-up clinics can be found by clicking here.
Starting Wednesday, August 18, all children in Ontario turning 12 years old before the end of 2021 will be eligible to receive their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Learn more: https://t.co/9XFFVidHQZ #Middlesex #LdnOnt
— MLHealthUnit (@MLHealthUnit) August 17, 2021
