Some parents opting for shorter interval on second dose for kids

CALGARY -

Parents of some five  to 11 year olds are opting to shorten the interval for their kid's second shot, prioritizing the immediate protection over the long term benefit of waiting.

AHS and NACI both recommend an eight week interval for Pfizer's COVID vaccine, timing which appears to give more long lasting protection against the novel corona virus.

However a wait of as little as three weeks still gives an excellent degree of protection, even if immunity may begin to fade more quickly.

But with the Omicron variant becoming so widespread, there is a sense of urgency for parents of school-aged kids.

“We're trying to make sure our children have the childhood that we want them to have and feel safe in the activities are doing and that we're also keeping our other family members safe grandparents safe,” said Jane Robarts, whose daughter Elsa is also enrolled in extracurricular swimming and dance.

"We were really struggling with the fact that there was an opportunity for her to have a bit more immunity," said Robarts. "Just how rapidly it's moving through the community that kind of helped make the decision for us."

Jane Robarts had her daughter receive a second COVID vaccine earlier than recommended

Dr. Dan Gregson, an infectious disease professor at University of Calgary's Cumming School of Medicine, said parents aren't wrong to consider moving up the shots.

"I think  that given what's going on in the province currently that waiting a full eight weeks might be leaving it a little bit long,” Dr. Gregson said. He adds that there is a benefit to immunizing kids, even if it is a low risk but high consequence scenario.

“The data suggests that although severe disease is less common in younger children, it becomes a very rare event, if you have a fully immunized child,” he said.

AHS said it does not recommend shortening the interval, but parents will not be turned away either. Instead nurses will explain the risks of shortening the wait: namely that long term immunity will not be as good without a third shot.

Overall five to 11 year old children's COVID vaccinations are moving slowly in Alberta - 39 per cent have one shot and 17,764 - or 4.5 per cent - have two – all of those are sooner than the government recommendation.