CHEO kicks off COVID-19 vaccination clinic this weekend
The push to quickly get jabs into young arms continues as kids in the capital rolled up their sleeves for their first COVID-19 vaccine.
Ottawa Public Health says about 1,200 doses were administered to children aged five to 11 on Friday, the first day of the city's paediatric vaccination campaign.
This weekend is the start of CHEO's vaccination clinic through the Kids Come First health team. That's where Tracy Schulz's son, Aiden, is getting his shot.
"They phone me Thursday and the appointment's Sunday," said Schulz. "It's happening pretty quickly and I'm pretty excited about that."
Aiden is a little less excited.
"I just don't like the feeling of something going into my body," said the nine-year-old, who is afraid of needles."
CHEO says its clinic is aimed at easing some of those anxieties.
"The way our clinic is different is we offer more time and space per vaccination appointment and we have resources and support that focus on providing the child with the best experience, a really positive experience," said Stephanie Carter, the director of ambulatory care at CHEO.
Carter says paediatric experts and people from the autism team will be on hand—including CHEO's therapeutic clown, Molly.
The CHEO website states the clinic is geared toward children who are immunocompromised, individuals with autism or anxiety, and those who have a condition that makes its challenged to be vaccinated in the community.
Running Saturday and Sunday, the clinic has capacity for 300 kids a day.
Appointments can be booked by preregistering on CHEO's website.
"We're hoping that the smaller environment's a little bit more intimate," said Schulz. "They're used to dealing with kids and that will make a difference."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.