A one-day vaccine clinic will be held on Saturday, 29 Jan., for children aged 5-11 who are medically vulnerable, the Public Health Department has announced.
The vaccinations will be available by appointment only, between 9:30am and 3:30pm at the Public Health Clinic at the Cayman Islands Hospital.
“The administration of the childhood vaccines is done by specially trained Public Health nurses with extensive experience in immunization of children,” said the Health Services Authority’s Chief Nursing Officer Dr. Hazel Brown.
She added, “Based on the demand for the vaccine, additional clinics will be added as needed.”
UK approval
The vaccine is available to this group of children because Cayman has received approval from the UK Health Security Agency (previously Public Health England) to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to vulnerable, high-risk children ages 5–11, Interim Chief Medical Officer Dr. Autilia Newton said.
It is not yet available to all children in this age group in Cayman, or in Britain, because the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which advises the UK government, has only recommended that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine be offered to children aged 5-11 who are at clinical risk or living with someone who is immunosuppressed.
Newton, at a press briefing on Tuesday, said she understood the committee was due to meet to decide shortly about making the vaccine more widely available to children in that age group, “hopefully this week”.
Vaccines for children aged 5-11 are already available in the United States, Canada and Australia, as well as in a number of European countries.
The paediatric-size vaccine dose being given to the at-risk children in Cayman is taken from vials with adult doses, Newton explained.
“The vaccine available at the moment is the adult vaccine,” Newton said. “With the adult vials, you have to have very experienced people giving the vaccine [to young children] because it’s a… fraction of what you give to the adults.”
She said proportionally correct children’s vials “should arrive in the UK by the end of this month, and then there is a quota which has already been allocated… including for Cayman. If it does not arrive there, it can’t arrive here.”
Who can get the vaccine?
Children aged 5-11 with any of the following conditions or illnesses can get the vaccine:
- Chronic respiratory disease
- Chronic heart conditions
- Chronic conditions of the kidney, liver or digestive system
- Chronic neurological disease (i.e. Down’s syndrome)
- Endocrine disorders
- Immunosuppression (i.e. those undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy, solid organ transplant recipients, bone marrow or stem cell transplant recipients)
- Asplenia or dysfunction of the spleen
- Serious genetic abnormalities that affect a number of systems
- Children in this age group living with household members who are vulnerable or immunocompromised are also eligible to receive the vaccination.
Parents and guardians accompanying the vulnerable or high-risk children are required to bring with them the children’s immunisation records and a physician’s letter in support of their patient receiving the vaccine.
How to make an appointment
Appointments can be made by contacting the Public Health Clinic at 926-8152.
For children who would be eligible for the vaccine in the Sister Islands, contact Faith Hospital on Cayman Brac at 244-7643 to schedule an appointment.
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When are the boosters for the 16+ kids happening? This is beyond ridiculous that it’s taking this long when boosters for 16+ kids have been approved in the UK for ages now.