The first COVID-19 vaccination for kids under five has been available for more than four months, but there hasn’t been much national acceptance.
According to the Public Health Agency of Canada’s most recent statistics, as of October 9, 6.5% of children under the age of five had gotten one dose of vaccination, while 1% had received two doses.
Comparatively, 84.2% of Canadians five and older have had two COVID-19 doses, compared to 86.9% who have received one.
The University of Alberta’s applied immunisation research team is headed by nursing professor Shannon MacDonald, who noted that the coverage rate for COVID vaccine in children under five is “very astonishingly low.”
Parents handle their older children differently than their younger children, according to MacDonald.
With COVID vaccinations, “we’ve seen that what you’re prepared to do with a 12-year-old is different from what you’re willing to do with a five-year-old, [and that’s] different from a two-year-old,” the expert claimed.
“Parental choice is a component of it,” said the speaker.
Accessibility, according to MacDonald, is another factor. She pointed out that while immunizations are distributed nationwide according to age groups, families may have already made several journeys to clinics.
The uptake for standard children vaccines in Canada is “usually around 80% plus,” according to the expert; but, the COVID-19 vaccination may be perceived differently because it is a more recent development.
Parents may be a little anxious about what it will look like in the long run since it hasn’t been around, she added. Parents’ opinions and behaviours about the COVID vaccine “are significantly varied.”
Although nationwide public health precautions have been abandoned, the epidemic is still ongoing. However, health authorities from all throughout Canada have stated that it is obvious that many people’s views on the epidemic have evolved.
Children under five need vaccines Dr. Jesse Papenburg, a paediatric infectious disease specialist at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, stated that COVID-19 “got rolled out later, at a point in the pandemic where I think Canadians, in general, are not seeing COVID-19 as much of a threat either for the children themselves or for the population at large.”
Additionally, parents may now feel there is less of an urgent need to vaccinate their children if other family members with high-risk conditions have already had their vaccinations or boosters, according to Papenburg.
Although children are less likely than others to encounter major COVID-related illness, some do still do so sometimes, the doctor added.
Since most children hospitalised with Omicron don’t really have an underlying risk factor, it’s difficult to determine which cases will need hospitalisation and which ones may be more complex.
Following Avery’s vaccination, Paterson is now more at ease enrolling her in activities like swimming and gymnastics close to the family’s Edmonton home.
She acknowledged that she could see why parents could be concerned or reluctant about the vaccination, but she urged them to consider the research involved.
Every parent only wants to keep their child safe, and everyone is doing the best they can while also choosing what they believe to be best for them and their families.
More people will stay indoors as the weather cools and the holidays approach, according to Papenburg, so families should think about having everyone immunised.
The danger of transmission inside the household will be reduced, he added, “the more persons in that household who have been vaccinated with the primary series or have received a recent booster vaccination.”
This autumn, a record number of kids have been diagnosed with respiratory viruses, and experts believe the COVID-19 vaccination might add another layer of protection for the youngest age group.
According to Dr. Lynora Saxinger, an infectious disease expert at the University of Alberta, “that population is a group where we know there’s a lot of transmission… of all virus right now.”
“It is actually extremely beneficial to strengthen any protection against continued exposures in care facilities into families.”
According to Papenburg, previous immunisation may provide some protection as variations develop, particularly in terms of serious disease and hospitalisation.
The question of whether we will be prepared and able to adequately safeguard our juvenile population in the event of another variety is, in my opinion, what we are most worried about.