(Submitted/ Sask. Rivers School Division)

By Nigel Maxwell

Healthy schools

Prince Albert schools prepare to host vaccine clinics

Nov 23, 2021 | 5:28 PM

With the impending arrival of over 112,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) plans to offer immunizations in more than 100 schools.

Within the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division (SRPSD), vaccine clinics will begin next week at all K-8 schools in the city. Director of Education Robert Bratvold advised paNOW the school division had been working for weeks with a health team to have the final parameters and logistics in place, and on Monday received some of the final communication from the Ministries of Health and Education.

“So we will be sharing it with the schools, and schools will communicate with parents as soon as it makes sense for them,” he said.

Bratvold reminds parents that these are voluntary vaccine clinics provided by SHA, and are for children ages 5-11 who attend the host school.

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Parent consent is required for any child to receive the vaccine, and a parent/guardian must be present to immunize children in Grade 4 or younger. The clinics will be held in the afternoons and evenings to accommodate parent schedules.

“One of the things that will be a challenge for us is that the health authority does not have the staff to be able to host clinics in all of our schools,” Bratvold said.

For that reason, Bratvold explained packages will be sent home with students at the host schools, and if a package is not sent home, it’s likely a sign that specific school has not been selected for a vaccine clinic. Bratvold assured parents with concerns that efforts will be made to include more schools in the future, but he also acknowledged the pressures the Sask. Health Authority is under.

“We can’t necessarily have vaccine clinics in all our schools, but we will try to get them as much as we can,” he said.

paNOW also reached out to both the Prince Albert Catholic School Division and the Conseil des écoles fransaskoises (CÉF) for comment. A spokesperson for the CÉF, said they are currently working to facilitate deployment of the vaccination program at École Valois.

“However, we are still waiting for details from Public Health. We’ll keep our parents posted,” he said.

No one from the Catholic School Division was available for comment.

In the meantime, those parents whose children do not attend the select host schools, can still get appointments at participating pharmacies and SHA clinics.

Information on booking appointments or finding a nearby clinic, is available at Saskatchewan.ca/covid-19. Once SHA clinics are available in an area, group appointments for siblings or families can be made by calling 1-833-Sask-VAX (1-833-727-5829). Parents can be immunized at the same time as their children.

Vaccinations will also be available for five to 11 year olds from Indigenous Services Canada (ISC), Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority (NITHA) and participating pharmacies.

When the online booking system was launched Tuesday morning, a high volume of traffic caused online slowdowns which the SHA explained are being addressed. Between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m., more than 12,000 appointments were booked for pediatric vaccinations.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell