The latest numbers from the Public Health Agency of Canada, as of Oct. 9, 6.5 percent of children under five have received one dose of vaccine, while one percent have received two doses. By comparison, 86.9 per cent of Canadians five years and older have received one dose, while 84.2 per cent have received two doses. “Covid vaccination coverage for children under five is quite strikingly low,” said Shannon MacDonald, a professor of nursing at the University of Alberta who leads the university’s applied immunization research group. MacDonald said parents have different approaches to their older children than their younger children. Nicholas Ruder and his daughter Caroline, 3, are seen here on Aug. 12 as the little girl receives a COVID-19 vaccine approved for children between the ages of six months and five years. Less than seven percent of children in this age group have received one dose of the vaccine, and only one percent have received both vaccines. (Sabah Rahman/CBC)
“A Parental Choice”
“We’ve seen that, with the COVID vaccines, that 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 that’s] different from a two-year-old,” he said. “It’s partly a matter of parental choice.” MacDonald said access also plays a role, noting that vaccinations have been rolled out across the country by age, meaning families may already have made multiple trips to clinics. In Canada, he said, the uptake for routine childhood vaccinations is “usually about 80 per cent plus” — but the vaccination for COVID-19 may be considered different because it’s new. “There hasn’t been, parents are maybe a little worried about the long-term picture of what it’s going to look like,” he said. “Attitudes and attitudes for parents are very different about getting vaccinated against COVID.” Although public health measures have been lifted across the country, the pandemic is not over. But health officials across Canada have said it’s clear many people’s perception of the pandemic has changed. Shannon MacDonald is a professor of nursing at the University of Alberta. He said parents sometimes have different concerns about vaccinating younger children than older children. (Trevor Wilson/CBC)
A sense of complacency
Vaccines for children under five “came out later, at a point in the pandemic where I think Canadians, in general, don’t see COVID-19 as much of a threat either to the children themselves or to the population at large,” he said. Dr. Jesse Papenburg, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the Montreal Children’s Hospital. And if other family members with high-risk conditions have already gotten their shots or boosters, Papenburg said, parents may now feel there is less of an immediate need to vaccinate their children. But while children are at lower risk of developing serious illness from COVID than others, some still experience complications — and they can be accidental, the expert said. “It’s hard to predict which ones will need hospitalization, which ones might be more complicated, since most of the kids who are hospitalized with Omicron don’t actually have an underlying risk factor.”
No question for some parents
For Alyssa Paterson, it was never a question of whether or not to vaccinate her two-year-old daughter Avery. “We always knew we would,” Patterson said. “We’ve had all her other shots. I watch a lot of scientists online — they’ve all had their kids vaccinated.” Alyssa Paterson holds two-year-old Avery on an Edmonton playground. Avery was vaccinated against COVID earlier this year. (Julia Wong/CBC) Since vaccinating Avery, Patterson has felt more comfortable taking her daughter to activities like swimming and exercise near the family’s Edmonton home. She said she can understand why parents might be nervous or hesitant about the vaccine, but she encourages them to look into the science behind it. “Every parent just wants to protect their child, and everyone does the best they can and makes the decisions they feel are right for them and their family.”
We’re heading into winter
As temperatures drop and the holidays approach, more people will head indoors, and Papenburg said families should consider getting everyone vaccinated. “The more people in that household who have been vaccinated with the primary series or have had a recent booster … this will help reduce the risk of transmission within the household as well,” he said. A growing number of children have been affected by respiratory viruses this fall, and doctors say the COVID-19 vaccine could give the younger age group an extra line of defense. “This group is one where we know there’s a lot of transmission … of all the viruses right now,” said Dr. Lynora Saxinger, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Alberta. “Strengthening any protection against continued exposure in a caregiving environment to families is really very valuable.” And as variants evolve, earlier vaccination could offer some degree of protection, especially when it comes to serious illness and hospitalization, according to Papenburg. “I think that’s our biggest concern that if there is another variant, will we be ready and will our pediatric population be protected as adequately as possible?”
