Nova Scotia quietly opens vaccine bookings to children over 6 months

The Nova Scotia government quietly opened the booking siteforchildren between six months and four years of ageto get the COVID-19 vaccine.

The province originally said the site would be ready for bookings in early August.

Bookings for as soonas Aug. 1 were on the site Wednesday night.

Children will need two shots or three if severelyimmunocompromized of the Moderna vaccine, the only one approved for children in that age group in Canada. The doses will need to be at least eight weeks apart. Children will be considered fully vaccinated 14 days after their last dose.

If a child has COVID-19, the appointment should be made eight weeks after the infection, Nova Scotia's deputy chief medical officer of health, Dr. Shelley Deeks, said earlierthis month.

Deeks advised parents to make sure theirchildren havetheir other routine vaccinations before the COVID-19 one is available.

If children are gettingother routine pediatric vaccines, the province says those vaccines can only be administered at least 14 days before or after the COVID-19 vaccine.

The province estimatesthere are around 34,000 children aged six months to four years old in Nova Scotia.