Should Hamilton parents speed up their kids’ second COVID shot?

Pandemic back-to-school uncertainty convinced Emma Cole to get an early second COVID-19 vaccine for her 10-year-old daughter, despite public health advice to wait eight weeks between doses.

She isn't alone.

More than 760 Hamilton kids aged 5-11 - nearly five per cent of the city's total - were double-vaccinated against COVID by New Year's Eve, even though local appointments for pediatric shots only started November 25.

We just thought, if they were going back to class in person, with such a transmissible (Omicron) variant, it just makes sense to try to give them as much protection as possible," said Cole, who booked her daughter's second dose five weeks after the first.

Cole doesn't regret the decision, despite Ontario's last-minute reversal Monday of a planned in-person return to school based on a massive Omicron-fuelled wave of COVID infections. Students will now learn online until at least Jan. 17.

She wanted to get it done and we wanted to make sure we were doing whatever we can to keep her safe," said Cole of her daughter. I think for peace of mind, stress levels ... It's a nice option to have."

Not all parents realize an early second pediatric shot is possible.

Hamilton public health allows parents to book a second shot for children as early as three weeks after the first jab - the time frame recommended by vaccine maker Pfizer, approved by Health Canada and adopted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S.

But the health unit recommends following the Canada-wide guidance of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization, which urges an eight-week wait between shots to maximize and extend immunity while lowering the risk of rare vaccine-associated heart inflammation.

That hasn't prevented debate among parents over quicker shots, even within the medical community.

The medical of officer of health for Peterborough, Dr. Thomas Piggott, recently tweeted it is very reasonable" for parents to want to hasten a second dose, especially if kids head back to class. I'd do that if they were my kids," tweeted Piggott, before the province switched gears on in-person learning.

We can always boost later, but children with 0/1 doses are not currently protected."

Dr. Jeffrey Pernica, on the other hand, recommends sticking with the eight-week wait - although he acknowledges there is plenty of debate" among parents.

Patients, health-care workers, family, friends, this is top of mind for a lot of people," said the pediatric infection disease specialist at McMaster Children's Hospital. I have been having this conversation a lot."

Pernica said the NACI advice holds up despite the Omicron surge, noting infections of children under 12 have thus far not resulted in a lot of particularly problematic" health impacts.

It also seems clear COVID is not going away" any time soon, he said, so it makes sense to promote stronger, longer-lasting immunity associated with an eight-week wait between shots.

I don't think a shorter interval is going to be dramatically more dangerous for the individual child," he stressed. But at the end of the day, I think there will be more benefit and less harm with a two-month interval."

Matthew Van Dongen is a transportation and environment reporter at for The Spectator. mvandongen@thespec.com