COVID-19: Kids age 5-11 to receive the vaccine today

Appointments for kids age 5 to 11 to get the COVID-19 vaccine begin today.

When appointments were first allowed to be booked earlier this week, the Medical Officer of Health for Halton, Dr. Hamidah Meghani, issued a statement. She included a list of tips for parents to follow to ease any concerns they may have.

She adds that children can read your emotions very well, so you should remain calm and control your emotions when talking about vaccines with your kids. She says it’s important to walk them through the process.

Dr. Meghani notes that distraction techniques are always helpful when administering vaccines to children. She recommends bringing something with them (either their favourite, music on your phone or a book) to keep their attention elsewhere during the shot.

She goes over a few more tips to use prior to the appointment.

At the appointment, she recommends for children to be sitting up while the shot is administered. For younger children, you can hold them in an upright, comforting hug. She says the kids need to be loose. In order for that to happen, she says you can tell your kids to pretend their arm is a piece of cooked spaghetti to avoid any tension in the arm.

When it’s all done – remember to congratulate them! Dr. Meghani says positive reinforcement is always helpful and you could even see if they want to go to the park to celebrate.

There are likely going to be mild side effects, so Dr. Meghani wants you to be ready for that.

See Dr. Meghani’s full video below: