Toronto preparing to vaccinate kids ages five and up for COVID-19 when the time comes
Toronto Public Health (TPH) announced Monday that it is getting ready to vaccinate children ages five and up.
The agency has formed a “COVID-19 Vaccination Planning Group,” which includes health partners, school boards, community representatives and The Ministry of Health, in order to get ready for the rollout.
Last week, Pfizer released preliminary information from a second phase trial of their COVID-19 vaccine for children between the ages of five and 11.
The Pfizer release stated, "in participants five to 11 years of age, the vaccine was safe, well-tolerated and showed robust neutralizing antibody responses."
On Monday morning, Health Minister Christine Elliott told reporters that the province is awaiting finalization on whether the Pfizer vaccine can be administered to children.
“We're going to take a look at anything that is going to protect people, including young people,” Elliott said,
“We know that the take-up of 12 to 17-year-olds has been very good with respect to receiving the vaccines. Now we're waiting for finalization on whether the Pfizer vaccine ... can be used for children aged five to 11.”
Speaking at Toronto's Board of Health meeting Monday, the city's Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Eileen de Villa, said TPH is trying “to make sure that [they're] ready whenever Health Canada has made their assessment and has provided appropriate approvals for the vaccine."
She says they will be ready to administer the vaccines as early as Nov. 1.
Since students returned to the classroom in early September, transmission of the virus at school has been a top concern.
As of Friday, there were 1,372 known active COVID-19 cases in schools in the province, affecting 750 of Ontario’s 4,844 publicly-funded schools.
On Monday, a school in the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board announced its closure after at least 11 cases have been tied to an outbreak at Monsignor Leo Clearly Catholic Elementary School.
According to TPH, there are approximately 200,000 children aged five to 11 in the city that would be eligible to get vaccinated.
City of Toronto data shows that 85 per cent of eligible Toronto residents have initiated the vaccine process, while 80 per cent have completed it.
With files from CP24's Codi Wilson.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
He didn't trust police but sought their help anyway. Two days later, he was dead
Jameek Lowery was among more than 330 Black people who died after police stopped them with tactics that aren’t supposed to be deadly, like physical restraint and use of stun guns, The Associated Press found.
Fluid in eye cells can 'boil' if you watch the eclipse without protection: expert
Millions of people in parts of Eastern and Atlantic Canada will be able to see the rare solar eclipse happening on April 8. But they should only look up if they have proper eye protection, experts say.
NEW More unauthorized products for skin, sexual enhancement, recalled: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recalled various items this week, including torches, beef biltong and unauthorized products related to skin care and sexual enhancement.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Angst and calls for resting places as Surrey, B.C., pet cemetery development continues
A single headstone is all that remains of dozens of markers for long-buried pets in a subdivision in Surrey’s Newton neighbourhood, where a half-acre parcel bears a large sign announcing the proposed construction of new homes.
Polar ice is melting and changing Earth's rotation. It's messing with time itself
One day in the next couple of years, everyone in the world will lose a second of their time. Exactly when that will happen is being influenced by humans, according to a new study, as melting polar ice alters the Earth’s rotation and changes time itself.