More than 5,000 children from Simcoe County and Muskoka District between five and 11 years old got a COVID vaccine this week.
The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit reported that as of Wednesday (Dec. 1), 6,557 children received one dose of COVID vaccine, with 5,217 of them receiving the pediatric dose of Pfizer-BioNtech.
Children who are 11 and turning 12 this year have been approved for an adult dose of the Pfizer vaccine since Aug. 18.
There are about 43,700 children between five and 11 years old living in Simcoe-Muskoka region.
It’s been a week since the health unit and its healthcare partners started administering COVID vaccines to children under 12 years old.
A smaller dose of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine was approved for children between five and 11 years old on Nov. 19 by Health Canada.
The province opened up its booking system for children’s appointments on Nov. 23, and by 10 a.m. that morning, more than 68,000 appointments were booked.
By Nov. 24, there were 6,750 Simcoe-Muskoka children between five and 11 years old booked for an appointment.
Also as of Dec. 1, 472,385 Simcoe-Muskoka residents (about 78 per cent of the population) received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine, and 451,237 of them (75 per cent) have had two doses.
Another 31,418 residents have had three doses of vaccine, with about half that group being individuals over 70 years old.
Vaccination coverage remains the lowest among the 18-to-29-year-old age group with about 74 per cent of that group fully vaccinated.
More than 95 per cent of the over-79-year-old population has two doses of vaccine, and 25 per cent has three doses.
In the Grey-Bruce region, the health unit reported a first dose coverage rate for children at about nine per cent, which is 1,171 children between five and 11 years old.
There are roughly 13,000 children in that age group living in Grey and Bruce Counties.
The Grey Bruce Health unit reports a 74 per cent vaccination rate for the total population (including children) and 84 per cent of people aged 12 or older are fully vaccinated.
