Ottawa prepares to start vaccinating kids against COVID-19 this week
As Ottawa Public Health prepares to begin vaccinating 77,000 Ottawa children against COVID-19 on Friday, family physicians are waiting to find out when they will receive doses.
The first shipment of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children arrived in Canada on Sunday; two days after Health Canada approved the modified version of the vaccine for children between the ages of five to 11.
"We'll definitely be on the computer Tuesday morning trying to get a shot as early as we can," said parent Alicia Robblee, who will be booking an appointment for seven-year-old Reid.
Medical officer of health Dr. Vera Etches told CTV News Ottawa on Saturday that parents would be able to begin booking COVID-19 vaccination appointments for children on Tuesday, with the first doses administered at community clinics on Friday.
The city will operate seven mass vaccination clinics, ten neighbourhood vaccination hubs and 73 school-based after-school pop-up clinics to administer the vaccine to children.
Meantime, family physicians in Ottawa are pushing for information on when they will receive the COVID-19 vaccine doses to help protect children against the virus.
"Sent an email to Ottawa Health to ask that we receive COVID-19 vaccine in office by Friday, also, so that our patients (kids who preregistered) can come to us," said Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrth on Twitter. "Takes pressure off the system Tuesday (when others log into the ON portal)."
Dr. Kaplan-Myrth tells CTV News Ottawa that she's already started scheduling appointments for her young patients, but has no details on when the doses will arrive.
"Yet again we're forgotten, yet again we're begging to please have the vaccine," said Kaplan-Myrth.
"These are kids who have come to us for every single other vaccine since the day that they started getting vaccines when they were two months old."
Kaplan-Myrth is hopeful family physicians will receive vaccines this week.
"Please make sure that it comes to my office midweek so that I can also be immunizing my patients," said Kaplan-Myrth. "That takes pressure off of public health and off of the other systems in place."
Dr. Etches has said the COVID-19 vaccine for children will be available at some Ottawa pharmacies and doctors' offices.
Ottawa Public Health says a parent or guardian must be present for a child aged five to 11 to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and consent will be required.
Ottawa parents and guardians will be able to book a COVID-19 vaccination appointment for children through the Ontario government's website when the booking system opens.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.