Almost a third of NWT kids aged 5-11 have now had one Covid shot

Territorial government data suggests 31 percent of the territory’s children aged five to 11 have so far received their first of two Pfizer-BioNTech shots against Covid-19.

Vaccination against Covid-19 for children aged five to 11 began in Yellowknife on November 26. The NWT government says all kids in that age bracket will have access to their first shot before December 15.

There are roughly 4,300 NWT residents aged five to 11.

Territorial data published on Monday suggests one percent of those, around 40 children, are already fully vaccinated. The basis for that figure was not immediately clear, given only three weeks have elapsed since Health Canada approved the first vaccine for use among children aged five to 11. The Covid-19 Secretariat has been approached for comment.

Including residents as young as five, 75 percent of the territory’s eligible population are now considered fully vaccinated and 81 percent partially vaccinated.

Among adults, those figures rise to 84 percent fully vaccinated and 87 percent partially vaccinated.

Every NWT community has now fully vaccinated more than 75 percent of its adults and only Tuktoyaktuk, at 74 percent, misses that mark for residents aged 12 and up.

Across the territory, the 20-24 age bracket remains the least-vaccinated at 74-percent full vaccination. By contrast, 97 percent of residents aged 75 to 79 are fully vaccinated. The figure for residents in their forties is 86 percent, while teenagers have a full vaccination rate of 78 percent.