On October 18th, The Department of Health and Social Services, in conjunction with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, introduced a new COVID 19 at-home student screening program to help protect the unvaccinated NWT student population (ages 5-11).
The program has been amended to allow all junior kindergarten students at participating schools, including children four years of age, to participate. Previously, the program only included those aged 5-12. This change was made in response to requests from parents expressing concern that their children, who are under 5-years-old, were being excluded from the program.
Quick Facts
- On May 6, 2021, the GNWT began vaccinating adolescents aged 12-17 with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine just one day after Health Canada approved a vaccine for those 12 years of age and older.
- On October 1, 2021 Pfizer-BioNTech submitted preliminary clinical trial data to Health Canada for children ages 5-11 years. On October 18, 2021 a formal filing of the full submission for Health Canada authorization for this age category was submitted. A response from Health Canada on this submission is expected within the coming weeks.
Related links
- NWT COVID-19 Dashboard
- GNWT Information and Resources About the COVID-19 Vaccine
- NACI Recommendations on the Use of COVID-19 Vaccines
- COVID-19 At Home Student Screening Program
For media requests, please contact:
Jeremy Bird
Manager, Communications
Department of Health and Social Services
Government of the Northwest Territories
(867) 767-9052 ext. 49034