The number of children under five vaccinated against COVID-19 in Ontario is even lower than the relatively small number many experts expected.
Vaccinations for the youngest age group are available for two months, but only about six percent of these children have received their first dose.
Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Kieran Moore, said the numbers are lower than he expected to see at this point.
“I certainly want more families to consider vaccinating their children from six months to four years,” particularly high-risk children, he said in an interview.
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“We know that we have more than five percent of children with an underlying medical condition that may predispose them to have a worse outcome associated with COVID, and I would absolutely encourage those parents to consider having a conversation with your health care provider about the risks and benefits”.
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Raywat Deonandan, an epidemiologist and associate professor at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Health Sciences, said there are many factors at play that are likely fueling low uptake, but he still would have expected a higher number by hours of now
“I’m not surprised he’s short, I’m surprised he’s so short,” he said.
Many people believe false narratives that the pandemic is over and that children don’t get sick when infected with COVID-19, said Deonandan, who also pointed to misinformation about the vaccine’s side effects.
How messages about vaccine safety and effectiveness are communicated to parents is important, Deonandan said.
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“That should be phrased as, ‘Parents, this is your decision to make, and I want to give you as much transparent information as I can so that you make a good choice here,'” he said.
“It’s a delicate balance here that we have to do when we talk about this. You don’t want to come across as forcing something weird into your child’s body, as we see the population as being very sensitive to this kind of narrative. We don’t want to look like we’re scaremongers trying to force the world to shut down again… But at the same time, you just want to advocate for the overall health of children.”
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The City of Toronto this week pulled a series of videos about COVID-19 vaccines for children after one of the children implied that children could not go out to play with friends if they were not vaccinated.
“This video missed the mark of this message and should not have been posted,” spokesman Brad Ross wrote in a statement.
“A series of five videos aimed at parents and carers about children’s vaccines has been paused while each is reviewed to ensure the messages are clear and unequivocal: vaccines are available for children and are safe.”
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Pediatricians are the ones parents should be listening to right now, Deonandan said.
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“No one trusts epidemiologists anymore,” he said. “They no longer trust the government doctors. Nobody trusts virologists anymore. They only trust their child’s pediatrician, and those are the people who need to have that conversation.”
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Moore said the province is hearing from parents that one-on-one conversations are the most effective communication tool.
“When you visit your primary care provider, your pediatrician, you get your standard immunizations at two months, four months, six months, 12, 15, 18 months — these are all opportunities for families to ask questions about COVID vaccination. “, he said.
“We have work to do to continue our (official) message. It will accelerate as we move inland and into the fall as we perceive the risk of transmission to increase.”
Dr. Paul Roumeliotis, the medical officer of health for the Eastern Ontario Health Unit, said he expects vaccinations for young children to pick up during the fall, as he had anticipated a global uptake of between 25 and 30 percent.
He attributed the slow start to the rollout starting over the summer, misinformation circulating about the vaccine, as well as a general hesitancy on the part of parents when it comes to children this age.
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“I’m a pediatrician, I know that parents are always hesitant, especially for younger children and babies, whether it’s a vaccine or any medication that comes out,” she said.
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“One of the messages we have to tell people is that while this vaccine is not as effective as we would like it to be for person-to-person transmission, it is certainly very effective against serious disease and its complications.”
Dr. Anna Banerji, a pediatrician, infectious disease specialist and associate professor at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, said there’s also a complacency factor.
“(People think), ‘Oh, COVID isn’t that bad. It’s just a mild cold in little kids, I don’t really have to worry about it,'” she said.
“I think there’s a lot of denial that kids, especially younger kids, can get it and get very, very sick.”
Public Health Ontario said in its most recent report that there was a marked increase in hospitalizations for babies under the age of one, with 17 children during the week of Sept. 4-10 compared to eight during the week previous Since the start of the pandemic, 1,268 children in this age group have been hospitalized for COVID-19, a much higher rate than older children and adolescents.
Children have a pretty good chance of catching COVID-19 now that schools are back in session, and it’s not just parents who need to consider the immediate and possible long-term effects on young children themselves, Banerji said. .
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“(They) can also spread it to other kids, they can spread it at home, they can spread it to grandparents,” he said.
“It’s something that could significantly affect someone’s life. And so I would do what I can to reduce the risk of transmission, which is really what a vaccination is.”
© 2022 The Canadian Press