Hamilton public health adds school-based vaccine clinics
Hamilton public health has added a number of COVID-19 vaccine clinics at Hamilton schools.
Nineteen clinics are currently scheduled at public and Catholic schools in Hamilton between Feb. 4 and 14.
These walk-in clinics are available to (Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board) and (Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board) students, families and staff from the schools outlined," public health said on its website.
The next clinic is scheduled for Friday evening at Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Elementary School in Hannon, and is open to several schools, St. James the Apostle, St. Paul and St. Mark.
Clinics this weekend are hosted at Bernie Custis Secondary School in central Hamilton Saturday and St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary School on the West Mountain Sunday.
The school hosting the clinic acts as a hub for other schools in the area. Weekday clinics operate from 4 to 7:30 p.m., and weekend clinics from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 1 to 3:30 p.m. Details on times and dates can be found on public health's website.
More clinics are expected to be added.
Local first-dose vaccination rates for kids ages five to 11, who became eligible in late November, have slowed. As of Feb. 3, 49 per cent have had a first dose - compared to 54 per cent provincewide - and 19 per cent have had two doses.
Despite efforts to get shots in arms, youth immunization has nearly stalled. Eighty-five per cent of youth ages 12 to 17 have had a first dose and 81 per cent are fully vaccinated.
Public health is encouraged" by the progress, but knows the job is far from done.
We recognize more needs to be done to remove barriers and ensure neighbourhoods and school communities with lower coverage rates have access to information tailored to their needs and vaccine that is accessible at convenient locations and times," public health spokesperson James Berry said in an email.
Public health said the issue of lower uptake, particularly among the youngest group, is multifaceted" and hesitancy is one of the factors.
Berry said parents are taking a wait-and-see approach" because severe illness from COVID-19 is uncommon among younger kids.
But severe disease does happen," warns Dr. Jeffrey Pernica, head of the division of infectious disease in the department of pediatrics at MacKids, speaking in a Dec. 17 YouTube video. Prevention is probably going to be the safest course."
School clinics, along with kid-friendly mobile and walk-in clinics, are some of the ways public health is working to combat it.
In total, 131 individuals - about 97 of them kids ages five to 17 - were vaccinated at recent clinics at St. Ann (Hamilton) Catholic Elementary School and Queen Victoria Elementary School on Jan. 28. An additional 175 people - 148 of them kids - were vaccinated at three school clinics in November and December.
More than 3,000 doses of the vaccine were administered at school clinics between Aug. 21 and Oct. 3. Nearly 2,000 of them were youth ages 12 to 17.
Berry said public health has enough COVID-19 vaccine supply on-site to meet the demand of the eligible school communities." Each grouping of schools would have hundreds of students, plus staff and parents.
Schools do not currently offer COVID-19 immunization during class time as they do with some other vaccines.
The local health authority said it is working with school boards to look at outreach to school communities to secure parental/caregiver consent for COVID-19 vaccine administration during instructional time for children aged five to 11."
For details on clinics at Hamilton schools, visit: https://www.hamilton.ca/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccination.
Kate McCullough is an education reporter at The Spectator. kmccullough@thespec.com