“Our family is planning a trip in December,” explains Montreal reader Marie. “Our daughter will be 12 in November. Even though she receives her first dose on her birthday, she will not be able to receive her second before we leave. Will we let her get on the plane anyway? ”
Good question. And to try to get an answer, we quickly understood, you have to be a fan of intergovernmental ping-pong …
In Quebec, it is impossible to have complete proof of vaccination before reaching the age of 12 years and 5 weeks – which includes the four week interval between the two doses, plus one week delay after the second dose.
When challenged on this issue, Transport Canada keeps telling us that “travelers aged 12 and over” must be fully vaccinated to be able to board a plane leaving Canada, or a VIA Rail or Rocky Mountaineer train. The measure will come into effect on October 30, with a transition period until November 30. “As of November 30, all travelers will have to be vaccinated unless they meet one of the few exceptional criteria,” replied the Ministry.
Will a child who just turned 12 get a five week grace period? Transport Canada is passing the buck… to provincial ministries of health. “They are the ones who issue the proof of vaccination”, we are told.
We therefore turned to the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS). Is it possible, for exceptional circumstances such as a family trip for which a full vaccination is required, to have a pre-adolescent vaccinated before his 12th birthday?e birthday ? Department’s response: no.
“For the moment, only children 12 years of age and over on the day of vaccination can receive the vaccine in Quebec. Thus, from the 12-year-old birthday, it is possible to make an appointment to obtain the vaccine against COVID-19. Studies are still underway for the vaccination of the youngest, but no vaccine against COVID is currently authorized for those under 12 years of age, ”responds spokesperson Robert Maranda.
The MSSS also adds, to emphasize the impossibility of requiring a complete vaccination during the first month following the 12e birthday: “This is the reason why, in Quebec, the vaccination passport is required for 13 years and over only. ”
Elsewhere in the country, this problem arises little. In the vast majority of provinces, all the children who will be celebrating their 12th birthdaye birthday by the end of 2021 (that is, who were born in 2009) are eligible for vaccination. The MSSS told us to trust “the experts in immunization” not to give the first dose before the day of the 12th.e birthday.
The ball then forks on the racket of… the INSPQ.
“It is clear that the immune response does not change overnight between the ages of 11 and 12,” admits Dr.r Gaston De Serres, who considers the approach adopted by the other provinces as “completely understandable and correct”. “But we have to define limits, and in Quebec, we chose to proceed like that. Because the further we go [des recommandations d’homologation des vaccins], the less comfortable you are. ”
If the MSSS asked the Committee on Immunization of Quebec (CIQ) today for permission to vaccinate children who will be 12 years old by the end of the year, “the answer would probably be yes,” says Dr.r From Serres.
Very good. But in the meantime, the ball bounces off the ground, and no one bends down to catch it.
What should Quebec tweens do who will quickly need a vaccination passport when they turn 12? Those born in 2009 can now take a tour of Ontario.
This is what Karine Fortin, a mother from Gatineau, who crossed the Ottawa River to have her 11-year-old daughter vaccinated during the summer before entering high school. “It was super simple, we were not asked for an Ontario health card, we were able to identify ourselves with the RAMQ card,” she tells us. The day of its 12e birthday, her daughter went to a Quebec vaccination center to have her two doses received in Ottawa recognized, and to obtain her vaccination passport in 10 minutes.
But beware: not all Ontario vaccination centers agree to vaccinate Quebec tweens. Those who report to the Eastern Ontario Health Unit demand that these vaccinated young people live in Ontario. But those in the federal capital region agree to receive them, confirms Maxime Lê, of Ottawa Public Health. “So far, 41 children born in 2009 who reside in Quebec have received their vaccines in Ottawa since the start of the campaign. ”
In numbers
Number of children born in 2009 in Quebec who will be 12 years old at the end of 2021
October: 7741
November: 6969
December: 7087
Source: Statistics Canada