Following Health Canada’s approval of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for children ages five to 11, Manitoba has announced that parents and caregivers will be able to book appointments starting Monday, Nov. 22 at 6 a.m.
Photo by Mufid Majnun on Unsplash
To be eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines, children must be five at the time the appointment is booked.
Manitobans can book appointments, either online or through the vaccine call centre at (toll-free) 1-844-626-8222 (1-844-MAN-VACC).
Booking over the phone is recommended for those who want to book multiple appointments at the same time and as close together as possible. The vaccine will be offered through regional vaccine clinics, physicians’ offices, pharmacies, urban Indigenous clinics and pop-up community clinics.
The province has not yet finalized the times for appointments and expects first appointments are expected to be available as early as the end of next week as the pediatric vaccines are not yet delivered to the province.
The province says there will be a separate booking option for children aged 5 to 11 and any appointments made before the call centre opens on Monday morning are not valid and those individuals will be turned away from the clinic.
Manitoba is following National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommendations on intervals between the COVID-19 vaccine and other vaccines. NACI recommends children receive their COVID-19 vaccine two weeks before or after any other vaccines they may receive to better monitor for any side effects.