It’s been over 4 months since Health Canada approved the first COVID-19 vaccine for children under five, but national acceptance has been low.
The most recent figures from the Public Health Agency of Canada show that as of Oct. 9, 6. 5 per cent of children under five had gained one dose of the vaccine, while one per cent had gained two.
By comparison, 86. 9 per cent of Canadians over the age of five gained one dose, while 84. 2 per cent gained two doses.
“The COVID vaccination policy for children under five is strangely low,” said Shannon MacDonald, a professor of nursing at the University of Alberta who leads the university’s immunization studies team.
MacDonald said parents have other approaches for their older children than for their younger children.
“We’ve realized that with COVID vaccines, what you’re willing to do with a 12-year-old is different than what you’re willing to do with a five-year-old, [and it’s] different from a two-year-old. “She said.
“It’s partly a parent’s choice. “
MacDonald said access also plays a role, noting that vaccines have been rolled out nationwide based on age, meaning families may have already made trips to clinics.
In Canada, he said, adoption of the formative years’ vaccination regimen is “typically around 80% or more,” but COVID-19 vaccination may be different because it’s new.
“It doesn’t exist; Parents would possibly be a little involved in the long-term picture of what it will look like,” he said. “Parent behaviors and attitudes are very different around COVID vaccination. “
Although public fitness measures have been abandoned across the country, the pandemic is not over. But fitness officials across Canada said it’s transparent that many people’s belief about the pandemic has changed.
Vaccines for children under five “were rolled out later, at a time in the pandemic where I think Canadians, in general, don’t see COVID-19 as a threat, either to the children themselves or to the general population,” Dr. Brown said. Jesse Papenburg. Pediatric infectious disease specialist at Montreal Children’s Hospital.
And if other members of the circle of relatives with high-risk diseases have already earned their vaccines or boosters, Papenburg said, parents may now have less desire to vaccinate their children.
But while children are less likely to develop severe COVID illness than others, some still experience headaches, and it can be random, he said.
“It’s hard to know which ones will require hospitalization, which ones will be more complicated, because most children hospitalized with Omicron have no underlying risk factors. “
For Alyssa Paterson, there was never any doubt about whether or not to vaccinate her two-year-old daughter Avery.
“We knew we were going to do it,” Paterson said. They gave us all their other vaccines. I stick with a lot of scientists online, all of them have vaccinated their children. “
Since vaccinating Avery, Paterson has become more comfortable engaging her daughter in activities such as swimming and gymnastics near her family’s home in Edmonton.
He said he can understand why parents might be nervous or hesitant about the vaccine, but encourages them to look at the science.
“All parents just need their children and everyone does their best and makes the decisions they think is right for them and their family. “
As temperatures drop and the holidays approach, more people will come in, and Papenburg said families deserve everyone to get vaccinated.
“The more people in this family who have been vaccinated with series one or have received a recent booster shot . . . It will also decrease the threat of transmission within the family,” he said.
An increasing number of young people have respiratory viruses this fall, and doctors say the COVID-19 vaccine could provide the younger organization with an additional line of defense.
“This organization is an organization where we know a lot about the transmission of all viruses right now,” said Dr. Brown. Lynora Saxinger, infectious disease specialist at the University of Alberta.
“Improving any coverage against ongoing exposures in family care services is very valuable. “
And as variants evolve, prior vaccination may offer some degree of protection, especially in cases of severe illness and hospitalization, according to Papenburg.
“I think our biggest fear is that, if there is some other variant, will we be in a position and our pediatric population will be good enough as possible?”
Senior Journalist
Julia Wong is a senior journalist in Edmonton.
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