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'It is a nightmare': Windsor-Essex residents lament slow rollout of paediatric COVID-19 vaccinations

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It’s been two weeks since the province announced the availability of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for children under five, but finding a place in Windsor-Essex to get your child vaccinated is proving to be a difficult task.

“It is a nightmare,” says Diane Russett, a retired grandmother who took up the task of finding somewhere for her four-year-old granddaughter, Mille to get vaccinated.

She’s spent six hours trying to hunt down an appointment at a pharmacy, but so far, has come up empty.

“When you get on it right away like I did last Thursday, it's shocking to me it's Wednesday and I don't have anything yet,” says Russett. “I'm shocked that it's almost like it's so important, but it's not so important.”

The province announced July 21 that the Moderna paediatric vaccine would soon be distributed throughout the province for infants six months old to five years of age.

That day, The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit recommended parents and caregivers speak with their child’s healthcare provider about the COVID-19 vaccine.

WECHU has also posted a list of 12 pharmacies participating in paediatric COVID-19 vaccinations.

But getting an appointment at a participating pharmacy has been a tall task.

“I just think there should have been more emphasis put on making this work and making it easy,” says Russett, who has been placed on a number of waitlists but still has no date confirmed. “A lot of people they're not going to keep fighting. They're just gonna give up and say forget it, I'm not doing it.”

“It seems kind of you know a screwy way to approach the rollout,” says retired radiation oncologist Dr. Christopher Leighton, who is critical of the government’s silence since the announcement. He says it’s the government’s role to keep people informed and educated about the risks and benefits of getting infants vaccinated.

“What people actually hear is that there's less to be worried about from the pandemic. And what we're seeing in healthcare is absolute opposite,” Leighton says.

It’s Dr. Leighton’s opinion that family doctors and primary care providers likely provide the best setting for infant vaccination due to familiarity and comfort, but information and vaccine availability for going that route is scarce.

“I’ve been trying this morning to find out if there are pediatricians or family physicians who have access to vaccine locally, I haven't heard of any yet,” he says. “Why are we lagging the rest of the province?”

Tim Brady, who owns and operates Brady’s Drug Store says paediatric vaccines will be available at his Belle River location as early as this weekend and is currently booking appointments through a waiting list. 

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