When the Government of Alberta announced that parents could book Covid-19 vaccination appointments for kids aged 12-15 in early May, Kerrianne Kusch didn?t waste a second. She logged on right at 8 a.m. the day registration opened. ?I kept refreshing and refreshing my screen,? says the Calgary mom of three boys, whose background is in health care.
A week later, her 12-year-old son, Owen, had received his first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Other than a sore arm at the injection site and a slight fever, he was no worse for wear.
?He was super excited to get vaccinated,? says Kusch, who received her first AstraZeneca Covid-19 shot in April. ?I?m a big proponent for vaccines. We want to see our family again. We want to go back to Saskatchewan and stay at the family cabin and have the boys see their cousins this summer.? Canada was the first country to approve the Pfizer vaccine in adolescents aged 12-15 on May 5, and the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommended its use for that age group on May 18, opening the door to immunizing youth against the virus that causes Covid-19.
In most parts of Canada?Ontario, Alberta, B.C., Manitoba, Quebec, Newfoundland, PEI, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories?parents have already begun booking appointments for youth.  The Yukon says it plans to vaccinate teens in June. At press time, information about Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Nunavut was unavailable.
The vaccine is safe and effective in this age group
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