There are 10,000 open vaccine spots for children. Regional officials want to fill them

There are 10,000 appointments available right now for children aged five to 11 to get their COVID-19 vaccine at Waterloo region clinics, officials say.

Currently, just more than 45 per cent of young people in that age range have their first dose. The shots have been available to children since late November.

David Aoki is the director of infectious disease, sexual health and harm reduction for the region. He said public health has noted demand for appointments for pediatric shots has dwindled.

He says the hesitation to sign their children up for the vaccine may be due to messaging parents are getting "that children don't get horribly sick" with COVID-19.

"The vaccine is relatively new for children and parents are taking their chances with what they perceive to be a relatively mild illness versus the unknown of vaccine side effects even though we know the vaccine to be safe and we trust the science on that," Aoki told regional councillors during an emergency board of health meeting held Tuesday evening to give an update on the region's COVID-19 situation. 

Aoki said they would like to see more children get their first doses, and second doses when they become eligible, so they are better protected when they return to the classroom.

Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, the region's medical officer of health, said Waterloo region isn't alone in seeing a slow down in pediatric vaccine appointments. She says it's happening across the province: that the people eager to get their children vaccinated have been through to get their first doses, and now, there's a lull.

But she says given the current situation with COVID-19, and the highly transmissible Omicron variant, it's important children get vaccinated.

"We're going to ... look into this and redouble our efforts to provide parents information and encourage them to vaccinate their children," Wang said.