When Holy Trinity Grade 12 student Zach Maynard went for his booster shot Thursday, Jan. 6, at a Halton health region community clinic, he was asked three times about his age: once at the door, again at the check-in counter, and again when his sleeve was rolled up.
All three times, he says frontline staff had to consult with colleagues to double check if he was eligible. “It seemed like half the staff knew and half the staff didn’t,” Maynard says. "It seemed like not everyone was 100 per cent sure." Ultimately, he was able to receive his third dose, but even the nurse administering his shot had to consult a supervisor to ask first if it was allowed.
Maynard was born in 2004 but doesn’t turn 18 until April. Some 17-year-olds like Maynard have been able to receive their booster shots, while others have been turned away as inconsistent communications messaging appears to have created confusion for members of the public as well as frontline staff.
Oakville mom Hannah McKinnon had been monitoring the Halton Health region booking site since December when she was able to get herself, her husband and their 18-year-old son their Covid-19 boosters. She was curious if on Jan. 1, the website would switch the message from "those born in 2003" to "those born in 2004" – which would allow her younger sons -- twins born in 2004 to book their boosters too.
When she went to the booking site on Jan. 1, she says the landing page said boosters would be available to those born in 2004, but a subsequent appointment-booking page said the booster was for those ages 18 and up.
She made two appointments for her twins and then called two Oakville pharmacies hoping to get clarity on whether the boys would be eligible. One pharmacy confirmed they were vaccinating those born in 2004, while the other said they were only vaccinating those who were 18 on the day of the appointment.
Unable to get a clear answer, by Monday, Jan. 3, McKinnon went ahead and took one son to the first of two appointments she had booked. At the Milton clinic, staff turned them away because her son was not yet 18. She cancelled the appointment she had later in the week for the other twin and posted her experience on social media hoping to provide clarity to other parents of 17-year-olds born in 2004.
When other parents reported that some of their 17-year-olds, like Maynard, had been able to receive their booster shots at other pharmacies and even the same clinic that had turned her son away, McKinnon emailed Halton region to ask directly. On Tuesday, Jan. 4, she received email response saying only those 18 and over were eligible. Knowing 17-year-olds were getting vaccinated, McKinnon emailed back to ask if the staff person could double check.
She then received another email, this time confirming that the booster were available to anyone born in 2004. McKinnon then went back to the Halton booking site at 5 p.m. and managed to snag two last-minute appointments in Georgetown.
She and her boys piled into the car and armed with the email confirmation, were able to get the boosters. But like Maynard experienced Thursday, McKinnon says there was a lot of confusion from frontline workers about whether the 17-year-olds were actually eligible.
As of Jan. 7, the Halton Region vaccine website now indicates “all individuals must be 18 years of age or older on the day of vaccination.” The site also says that the region had received a provincial directive to not provide boosters to those under 18, including those born in 2004 who have not yet turned 18. A limited provincial supply of adult-dose Pfizer vaccines may have triggered the change but no one was immediately available at Ontario Health or Halton Region to confirm or comment Friday afternoon.
McKinnon says she feels lucky her kids were able to receive their boosters because both of them work part-time in customer service jobs. “It was pure luck,” McKinnon says. “It was frustrating to go through, but it seems communication is coming from a lot of different places. It would be nice if there had been clarity. We spent the last two years sticking to the rules -- we have no problem with that. But tell me what the rule is.”