Ontario hospitals urge pregnant people to get vaccine, cite rising infant COVID-19 admissions

The surge in COVID-19 cases in Ontario is now seeing a disturbing potential trend, with some babies under a year old being admitted to hospitals.

The situation has become such a concern that some hospitals are urging pregnant people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

A joint statement from Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children, McMaster Children’s Hospital, the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, and Kingston Health Sciences Centre says six babies younger than 12 months old have been admitted because of COVID-19 since the middle of December.

“Previous to that, it was a rare occurrence that an infant was hospitalized for COVID-19 infection,” the statement said.

“No one wants their little one to be sick in hospital, let alone for COVID-19,” another part of it reads.

“For this reason, as well as for the health of the pregnant individual, we are encouraging anyone who is pregnant and eligible for vaccination — as well as all eligible members in their household — to get vaccinated.”

All infants admitted to the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa had unvaccinated mothers, the group says.

The statement notes infants’ immune systems have difficulty fighting disease especially without maternal antibodies transferred during pregnancy from vaccination.

The hospitals cited research out of the Ottawa children’s hospital that has shown no adverse pregnancy outcomes in Ontario from COVID-19 vaccines. Despite that, the group says vaccination coverage has remained lower among pregnant people than the general population.

“We strongly support ongoing efforts to better understand the reasons why some pregnant individuals are not being vaccinated; this could help inform approaches for education that are tailored to the needs of specific communities,” the statement added.

It also said pregnant people should reach out to health-care providers with questions or concerns about vaccination.

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Ontario has been forced to bring in strict province-wide health measures amid a spike in cases, driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant. As a result of the strain on the system, the province has directed hospitals to pause what it calls “non-urgent” procedures to accommodate the influx of patients with the virus.

Officials have also said the unprecedented number of infections is causing staff shortages in key industries including health. Public health has acknowledged that the full picture of the virus’ spread is not known because tests are now being restricted to those considered at high risk from infection.

One child under the age of five has died from COVID-19 in Ontario within the past three weeks. Ava-Mae Abram, tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 2 and died one day later, according to her mother, Lindsay.

A GoFundMe campaign has since been set up to help the family cover funeral costs.

Data show that 38 Ontario children in the same age range have been hospitalized from the virus over the same period.

Children younger than five are the only age group currently not eligible for COVID-19 vaccination in Canada.

-With files from Lucas Casaletto