‘Like the Hunger Games’: B.C. parents frustrated on Day 1 of kids’ COVID vaccine rollout
Posted November 29, 2021 3:39 pm.
Last Updated November 29, 2021 7:56 pm.
B.C. social media was aflame Monday morning with parents venting their frustrations with the first day of the province’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout for kids ages five to 11. Some were successful, while many were told to wait.
Friend of mine got her notification – she registered a full month after we did
— Tarya Morel (@TaryaMorel) November 29, 2021
Chelsea Miller of Vancouver registered her child early and was excited when the province announced last week families would be notified in the order kids were registered. She had a hectic and confusing morning with a process she believes was unfair.
“It has felt like the Hunger Games,” she said, adding her family has been looking forward to getting her 10-year-old son vaccinated against COVID-19.
“We’ve been so excited and waiting. He asks every day. I left my volume up on my phone last night, thinking it might come in at 3 a.m., as it did for my husband and myself and our older son.”
Related video: Health Canada approves Pfizer vaccine for kids 5 through 11 (Nov. 19)
The invitation never came.
Miller and her friends began texting each other Monday morning, asking if anyone had received their invitations yet. None of them had.
“Then the word started to come in that people were phoning the booking number and actually being successful in booking vaccines for kids,” she explained, nothing this only made the situation even more confusing.
Eager to get her son an appointment, she called to try to book.
“I was told exactly as I expected, that the booking would roll out in relation to our registration and that I should just wait for a link,” Miller said, adding she was happy to wait, as she believes in following the rules.
“I literally cried”
Her invitation came at 10 a.m. and she was able to get an appointment for Tuesday afternoon.
“I literally cried when the booking invitation came in and we knew we had an appointment for him,” Miller said.
“Just being able to be safely indoors with grandparents … My mom has had some chronic lung issues in the last few years and we’ve been so careful. This is our our last link of the chain that’s going to break away and have us be back together as a family.”
No, but I'm desperately stalking my email waiting for one.
— Sunshine G (@sgudlaug) November 29, 2021
On Monday, Health Minister Adrian Dix said 140,000 children have been signed up in what he called B.C.’s “very effective” vaccine registration system.
Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says about 10,000 invitations are sent out per hour.
Dix adds he expects even more parents to register their kids, now that vaccinations are underway.
“It’s our expectation that everyone in this cohort … will have at least had the opportunity to be vaccinated by the end of January,” he said.
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The experience was smooth for Jane Halton in Vancouver. She was notified at about 9:30 a.m. she could book her child in for a shot.
“I quickly went into my email, clicked the link and booked an appointment tomorrow at 5 p.m. right in my neighborhood. It honestly could not have been easier.”
Meanwhile, Kirsty Hudson in Victoria, who has two kids, and received an invitation to book earlier than most.
“The invitation came about 10 a.m. to book my son. I went online and was able to do it really quickly. But nothing came for my daughter,” she said.
The province said last week if a guardian has more than one child, they can bring all eligible kids at the same time, provided each family member is booked at the same clinic for the same day. Hudson says she tried to make that happen.
“I ended up calling to find out if I could add her and get the two of them done together. They said, ‘No, you have to wait for her invitation to book her appointment.”
Hudson notes she did register her daughter a bit later than she did her son.
“So I accept my own responsibility for not jumping on getting her registered,” she said. “I just want it to happen now. I was checking my phone over the weekend, I was waiting.”
Hudson later received an invitation to book her daughter’s shot and managed to reserve timeslots at the same location on the same day so they can all go together. But before that, she felt nervous about only one child securing a vaccination timeslot.
“I feel like I have one shoulder down and I now have to wait for the other one to come down,” she said earlier Monday.
Though all three of these parents ultimately got their kids booked for shots, Miller feels the process was “incredibly imbalanced.”
“It didn’t feel right. And I’m not alone feeling that, lots of my friends and friends from different schools and different communities around the province are feeling quite put out about the fact that that link wasn’t there.”
Several other provinces, including Ontario, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, all rolled out pediatric COVID-19 vaccinations last week. Miller says given the time it took for Health Canada to review the vaccine and the 10 days that have passed since it was approved, B.C. had plenty of time to prepare.
“I mean, honestly, after everything we’ve been through, getting B.C. and Canada vaccinated, this last group should have been just smooth itself. In my opinion, I thought it should have been really well done and easy.”
Dr. Bonnie Henry attributes the delay in B.C. to ensuring clinics are properly set up and challenges getting the vaccine to those clinics.
“We’ve had it airlifted to Alberta and trucked in to make sure that we could get it to the right place, and we wanted to make sure the clinics were starting everywhere at the right time and that we had all the supplies. So, it was taking the time to do it right,” Henry said.
She says about 10,000 invitations are sent out per hour.
“Be patient … It’ll all come together in the next few days,” she said.
"We had a lot of challenges getting vaccine" and wanted to make sure that clinics were starting at the same time DBH says of today's start to the 5-11 campaign.
Asking ppl be patient.
/10#bcpoli #covid19 @CityNewsVAN— LizaYuzda (@LizaYuzda) November 29, 2021
She reiterated the pediatric COVID-19 vaccine is specially formulated for young people’s immune system, adding it is a smaller dose. She also urges parents and caregivers to talk to their children.
“They know the anxieties we’ve been going through. They know the things that they’ve been missing,” she said. “Have a conversation with them about the vaccine, about the things that they want to do, about whether they want to be distracted or pay attention.”
She also suggests discussing strategies about how to help them feel comfortable when they get their shot.
“Make sure they have some things to bring with them, whether it’s a game or a stuffy or an iPhone to look at while they’re while they’re getting the shot, and just talk to them about the importance of it for them as well.”
Parents and caregivers who haven’t yet registered their kids for their first COVID-19 vaccine dose can still do so online.
Family COVID-19 vaccine clinics set up with young children in mind
Henry says the clinics for young kids are designed to be as accommodating and friendly as possible.
“They have public health nurses and other immunizers who are used to immunizing children. They know how to make you feel at ease. They know the things that we need to do to make it an environment that’s welcoming for children,” she said, adding they will try to make accommodations for kids with special needs.
“For some children, that means having a quiet area, not having to wait too long. That’s one of the reasons why the appointments are so important, so that we can move people through and you’re not sitting there watching and waiting for a long time.”
Henry also says puppies may visit some clinics to help ease children who may be anxious about getting a shot.
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A parent or guardian can give verbal consent if they take their child to get vaccinated, Henry said, acknowledging there are some families in which this becomes a more complex situation and they are addressed on a case-to-case basis.
If someone other than a parent or guardian brings a child for their shot, written consent from a parent and a way to contact them is required.
