COVID-19 booster shot appointments open today for kids 5-11

Children aged five to 11 in Ontario will be able to book an appointment for a COVID-19 booster shot starting Thursday morning.

The Ontario government says appointments can be booked through the province’s vaccine portal starting at 8 a.m.

Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Kieran Moore, announced the rollout in a news conference Wednesday, part of a broader update on the province’s preparations for the fall.

“While we are updating our public health guidance, preventing COVID-19 and other infections is vital to keeping our families, schools and communities safe and healthy,” Moore said.

“I strongly encourage all Ontarians to take advantage of vaccine and booster doses that are recommended and available to them, which now includes the availability of a booster dose for children aged five to 11.”

Health Canada said earlier this month it had approved Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine as a booster for children aged 5-11, to be administered at least six months after their second dose.

Vaccines for that age group were first approved last November.

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“Staying up to date on COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters is still the best tool to keep people healthy and out of hospitals, and to ensure Ontario’s economy stays open,” Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, said.

“Expanding access to boosters for ages five to 11 will give parents more opportunities to protect themselves, their families and their communities this fall as kids go back to school and as people are spending more time indoors.”

Wednesday’s announcement comes as students in Ontario prepare to return to schools this fall for the first time without COVID-19 restrictions during the pandemic.

Data published by the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table shows wastewater signals, an early COVID-19 trend indicator, have ticked up since mid-August after declining for three weeks.

Moore said earlier this month that the province’s seventh wave of COVID had peaked, with waves arriving in roughly three-month intervals.

At the time, he predicted a fall wave would not be as bad as previously expected, given so many people have been infected with the Omicron variant, combined with protection from high vaccination rates and the absence of a new variant of concern.