Edmonton family frustrated by COVID-19 booking system after son turned away

The parents of a boy who qualifies for Phase One of Alberta's COVID-19 vaccine rollout says their son was denied his shot.

The parents of a young Edmonton boy with a respiratory illness are frustrated after their son was denied a COVID-19 shot despite using the provincial booking portal to confirm a location that would provide pediatric care.

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Robin Lucciantonio said she booked the appointment for her six-year-old son Theo, confirmed on the website that the shot would be for a child under 12 and called Health Link to confirm.

But when the family arrived at the South Park immunization clinic, the clinicians said pediatrics weren’t done at that time.

“I went through the booking protocol, I talked to Health Link … but it still is no good,” said Lucciantonio.

A statement from Primary Care Alberta said a parent or guardian booking a COVID-19 vaccine appointment for children aged 6 months to 11 years must do so by calling Health Link at 811 as online booking is not available for the age group.

“A previous online system issue that allowed online bookings has been fixed,” said the statement. “This may have resulted in a few appointments being offered in error, and we apologize to any parents whose eligible child was unable to receive the vaccine at the appointment they had booked.”

Lucciantonio tried to reschedule her family’s appointment with the teachers’ strike, but when she reached out to Health Link, they told her not to move her appointment due to issues with pediatric bookings.

After the miscommunication, Theo was able to get his shot a few days later. His parents, both health-care workers, got theirs a few days after that.

Theo was born with tracheobronchomalacia, a condition where the tissue of the windpipe is weak, as well as a laryngeal cleft, which Lucciantonio describes as a little hole in Theo’s esophagus.

She says respiratory infections like COVID-19 can be Theo’s Achilles’ heel.

“He will always be more at risk,” said Lucciantonio. “We’re really grateful he qualified for Phase 1 of the vaccinations, but most of his classmates won’t qualify, so he doesn’t get the benefit of herd immunity anymore.”

She said a few years ago, Theo contracted RSV which nearly killed him. The experience motivated the family to move forward with an aortopexy surgery.

While there were some snags in getting the vaccine, Lucciantonio and her husband Craig Kotnyek said they are luckier than others trying to get the shot.

“It’s just so disheartening,” said Lucciantonio. “As vulnerable as Theo is, he’s not the most vulnerable … The nurse that gave him his vaccine mentioned she will have to pay out of pocket for her three kids, and at quite a substantial cost.”

“In Canada, we have universal health care … and this really should be available to all and there should be no barriers and no cost,” said Lucciantonio. “Those who don’t want it will never get it, and that’s fine. But allow those that want it, those who need it, (to) access it.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Connor Hogg