THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES ANNOUNCES THE ARRIVAL OF THE PAEDIATRIC DOSES OF COVID19 VACCINE.
The Ministry of Health and Human Services wishes to announce the arrival of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID19 vaccine for children aged 5 years to 11 years old. The TCI received 300 does of the vaccine on March 7th, 2022.
No registration is necessary to receive the vaccine, however interested parents are encouraged to contact their primary health care provider to have their children added to the list to be vaccinated. The presentation of the vaccine is multi-dose i.e., there are ten doses in one vial, which means one vial can vaccinate ten persons. Therefore, unless ten persons have requested the vaccine, the vial will not be opened to avoid wastage.
MOHHS has decided that the time between the first and second dose will be 4 weeks. Two doses of the vaccine are needed to be considered fully vaccinated against COVID19 disease. Children with underlying medical conditions, those living with elderly persons or those who live with persons with underlying medical conditions are the priority group for this vaccine. However, if this group is not forthcoming, the vaccine will be offered to other interested children.
While the COVID19 vaccine is not mandatory, we encourage those in the priority category to seriously consider vaccination. The COVID19 vaccine has proven to be safe and effective in preventing serious complications of the COVID19 disease. It is believed that vaccinating children with the COVID19 vaccine can significantly reduce the spread of COVID19 among other groups.
Please note that parental consent is required for this vaccine to be administered.
The vaccine will be available from March 15th, 2022. Remember to contact your primary health care provider to schedule your visit.
The vaccine for those over the age of 11 years remains available at all health care facilities and those who have not yet been vaccinated or those who completed the two-dose schedule more than three months ago are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated or boosted respectively.