Resource Round-up: Childhood vaccination

Safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines have been approved in Canada for children and youth 5 years and older and for children 6 months to 5 years of age, and pharmacists and other providers have jumped into action to help protect our kids. Whether you’re administering vaccines in your pharmacy or helping parents and kids understand the benefits of getting vaccinated, there’s lots of information to wade through. Here is a round-up of some helpful resources.

CPhA resources

• NEW! Caregiver checklist: Preparing for a child's vaccine appointment
• Practice tool: Pharmacy top tips for childhood vaccinations: Setting your pharmacy up for success
• Practice tool: 5 things you need to know: COVID-19 vaccines for children 5–11
• Webinar recording: Learning to play your CARDs: Improving the childhood vaccination experience and what you need to know about COVID-19 vaccines and kids

NACI guidelines

• Recommendations on the use of Moderna Spikevax COVID-19 vaccine in children 6 months to 5 years of age (PDF) and Summary of NACI statement (July 14, 2022)
• Updated recommendations on the use of COVID-19 vaccines in children 5 to 11 years of age and Summary of the NACI statement (Updated January 25, 2022)

FAQs and decision-making resources

University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy

• NEW! What are the reasons to vaccinate my young child (ages 6 months to 5 years) against COVID-19?
• NEW! Timing of COVID-19 vaccines for young children (aged 6 months and older)
• 2-pager FAQ COVID-19 Vaccines for Children
• Why NOW is the right time to vaccinate children against COVID-19
• The benefits of vaccinating children against COVID-19
• Frequently asked questions - COVID-19 mRNA vaccines for children (Video)

• Kids activity sheets

Children’s Healthcare Canada

• FAQ: COVID-19 Vaccines for Children (PDF)
• Immunizing Children with Confidence (Resource hub)

medSask

• Pediatric COVID-19 Vaccine FAQs

• Considerations when providing injections to children (PDF)

• Vaccine cards: Comirnaty (5-11 years), Comirnaty (≥12 years)

Additional practice resources from medSask can be found here. 

Centre for Effective Practice

• The Centre for Effective Practice is one of the largest independent knowledge translation organizations for primary care in Canada. Their COVID-19: Vaccines resource is updated regularly and features new updates about COVID-19 vaccines for children.

Strategies and tips for a positive experience 

The CARD System

The CARD system provides strategies that can be used to help cope before and during vaccination.

• CARD (comfort, ask, relax, distract) system for parents and caregivers (PDF)
• CARD System videos: 4 short videos teaching children different strategies they can use when preparing for a vaccine. 
• CARD Game for Kids

Needle fear/pain management

• Parents Canada and Immunize Canada: Needles don't have to hurt (PDF)
• Caring for Kids: A guide for parents to reduce vaccination pain (PDF)

• IWK Health: COVID-19 Vaccine Comfort Promise Toolkit for parents/caregivers (PDF)

• Children’s Hospital – LHSC: My Comfort Plan (PDF)

• SKIP (Solutions for Kids in Pain): Fear of needles: 5 simple ways to ease vaccination pain for yourself and your child
• SKIP: Needle Pain Management for Vaccinations & More (PDF)
• Immunize Canada: Pain Management During Immunizations for Children

Our Resource Round-up series gathers available resources and practice tools on important health topics to help you in your practice. This is not an exhaustive list of available resources on childhood vaccination. Something missing? If you have information, tools or resources you think we should include, please let us know at practicedevelopment@pharmacists.ca. 

Last updated on January 26, 2022