First pediatric doses of COVID vaccine administered in Alberta

The first pediatric doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered into the arms of children aged five to 11 on Friday.

With 94 per cent of Alberta’s population now eligible for the shot, parents are hopeful this will bring their children one step closer to safety.

“It was great. We did it day one, we knew this is what we were going to do to hopefully protect everybody,” said one parent CityNews spoke with.

“My little one was quite nervous at first, but it went quite well, no tears,” said another parent.

One child was a little nervous about the shot but then realized, it’s just a small pinch.

“It was stressful at first but when she actually did it, I felt fine.”

Many children share the same fear of needles. But, clinics across Alberta did what they could to make the process easy for those new to the procedure.

“The nurses were really good at keeping me calm, I do not like needles at all.”

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A visit from a few furry friends across Calgary calmed nerves and encouraged kids to get the shot.

The small jabs into little arms are expected to go a long way, even if it might take a little while for the vaccine’s effectiveness to kick in.

“I think it’s going to make a massive difference, but I’d still like to point out that it’s going to take at least 10 weeks to get everybody fully vaccinated,” said emergency room physician Dr. Joe Vipond.

“So, that means first shot, second shot plus two weeks. So, that will be ten weeks, which is a long time from now. We still have like 100 kids a day getting infected in Alberta every single day.”

Over 62,000 appointments for the pediatric dose have been booked in Alberta, including nearly 30,000 in the Calgary zone. Giving parents hope things may start looking up.

“COVID doesn’t seem to be going away time soon but this definitely helps us get there.”