B.C. welcoming COVID-19 vaccine registrations from 5-to-11-year-olds ahead of expected Health Canada approval
None of the COVID-19 vaccines available in B.C. have yet been approved for children under age 12, but the province is still welcoming children in that age group to register to get their first dose.
In fact, according to the Ministry of Health, children ages five to 11 have been able to register for COVID-19 immunization "all along," since B.C. first debuted its online system for mass vaccination booking.
"Registering your child is a great step right now as we await approvals from Health Canada," the ministry said in a statement to CTV News Vancouver on Saturday.
"Throughout the pandemic, B.C.’s approach to vaccination booking is that we provide notification to people when it’s their turn to book. You are scheduled based on when it’s your turn, not when you register."
Now that Pfizer has submitted an application to Health Canada for approval of its vaccine for use in children ages five to 11, B.C. is preparing to distribute the shots.
"Public health is carefully monitoring the Health Canada review of COVID-19 vaccine for children aged five to 11, and will make decisions for B.C. based on science," the ministry said. "We will have more to say as the review proceeds."
The preparations come as B.C. experiences a surge in COVID-19 cases among school-aged children, prompting the province to expand its in-school mask mandate to include children in kindergarten through Grade 3.
B.C. has stopped short of mandating COVID-19 vaccination for teachers and school staff, however, maintaining that such mandates are the responsibility of individual school districts.
Those interested in registering their children for a COVID-19 vaccine can do so on the provincial government's website.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Western University researchers unlock potential 'cure' for ALS
New research out of London, Ont.'s Western University is shedding light on a potential cure for ALS, in which the targeting of the interaction between two proteins can halt or fully reverse the disease's progression.
Police release 3D images of young child found in an Ontario river two years ago
Police have released a three-dimensional image of a young child whose remains were discovered in the Grand River in Dunnville, Ont. almost two years ago.
A child killer legally changed his name in B.C. The province is trying to stop that from happening again
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
Collapsed Baltimore bridge span comes down with a boom after crews set off chain of explosives
Crews conducted a controlled demolition Monday to break down the largest remaining span of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
Kamala Harris drops F-bomb during White House live-stream
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris used a profanity on Monday while offering advice to young Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders about how to break through barriers.
Mortgage companies could intensify the next recession, U.S. officials warn
U.S. officials worry the next recession could be intensified by a cascading series of failures in the mortgage industry caused by crashing home prices, frozen financial markets and soaring delinquencies.
What Michael Cohen said on the stand in Trump hush money case
The star prosecution witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial took the stand Monday with testimony that could help shape the outcome of the first criminal case against an American president.
Security video caught admitted serial killer disposing of bodies in Winnipeg garbage bins
Security video caught admitted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki on multiple late-night outings, disposing of body parts in nearby garbage bins and dumpsters in the middle of the night.
Behind the barricades: How protesters spend their first days in a new encampment
Students in Montreal describe life in a newly erected encampment in Montreal as a whirlwind of preparations, from facing rain and a potential police crackdown to setting up a space for the exchange of ideas.