Canada’s vaccine rollout for kids 5-11 not fast enough, says doctor
Posted January 7, 2022 7:14 am.
Last Updated January 7, 2022 7:19 am.
Health Canada says 39 per cent of children between the ages of five and 11 in this country have received a first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, but one expert says the effort needs to be sped up.
Pediatrician Dr. Ran Goldman says the vaccination rate for these kids is too low. He is encouraging parents to seek answers from health-care providers about the effectiveness and safety of vaccines to protect kids if they have concerns.
“It’s not enough. I know that we are failing our children in terms of the rate of vaccination, and there are many factors associated with it. But the number is too small. We need to push forward on this,” Goldman, who is also a professor at UBC in Vancouver, said.
The lowest rates of vaccination for young kids are in Alberta and Yukon, while the highest is in Newfoundland and Labrador.
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Michelle McGrath, who lives in Langley, B.C., says she registered her five-year-old son for a vaccine as soon as the pediatric shot was approved last year.
She says she’s also worried that her 11-month-old twins, who were born three months premature, could be exposed to the virus and wants all kids to be protected as the Omicron variant raises case numbers to new highs.
“For people who are saying ‘We don’t know the long-term impacts of the vaccine.’ We also don’t know the long-term impacts of contracting this virus, so I would be far more concerned about the long-term impacts of even a mild or asymptomatic COVID infection than I would about a vaccine,” said McGrath.
Canada green-lit use of the Pfizer-BioNTech pediatric vaccine for children as young as five on Nov. 19, 2021. Provinces began rolling out shots to kids shortly after.
The pediatric version uses a smaller dosage of the same vaccine that’s being used in people 12 and up.
