Ahead of the provincial vaccination rollout, anyone aged 12 and older living, working or going to school in York Region is eligible to book an appointment for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine beginning Friday, May 21.
As of 8:30 a.m., vaccinations can be booked for children who are aged 12 — on the date of their appointment — and up by visiting york.ca/COVID19Vaccine.
Currently, Pfizer is the only vaccine authorized by the federal government for youth aged 12 to 17.
Under the provincial vaccine distribution plan, youth aged 12 to 17 are eligible as of May 31.
“What we would really like... is for the youth to bring in their family members, as well — to make it into a family event, as such,” York Region medical officer of health Dr. Karim Kurji told regional council this morning.
The amount of time allocated for the vaccination appointments has been increased for the children and their families, he added.
Individuals 13 years of age and under require a parent or legal guardian to provide consent at the time of the vaccination, York Region spokesperson Patrick Casey said. If a parent or legal guardian is unable to accompany their child, they then can complete and sign a consent form and send it with the child to the appointment.
At regional council meeting this morning, Newmarket Mayor John Taylor questioned if it could become mandatory that children be vaccinated to return to school.
Kurji said that’s not a requirement.
Markham Regional Councillor Jack Heath questioned that when vaccines are approved for children aged under 12 if mandatory vaccinations might be required for children to attend school.
The chief medical officer of health is considering that possibility, Kurji said, and it would need to come from the provincial level due to the possibility of legal challenges.
“I think you will see increasing discussions about (mandatory) COVID-19 vaccines as we get into the areas of vaccine hesitancy, particularly for those populations that are caring for vulnerable people,” he added.
“There’s no use having (a law) for some of the illnesses that can affect students, but not the big one,” Heath said. “It’s ridiculous that you can stand for one and not the other.”
In Ontario, school-aged children are required to vaccinated to attend school public school for diseases that include such as diptheria, polio, measles, mumps, and hepatitis B.
As of today, more than 640,000 York Region residents have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, which represents 65 per cent of the region’s adult population, Casey said.
