The COVID-19 vaccination rate on PEI is among the highest nationwide – 94 percent of people over the age of 12 are now fully vaccinated.
But when it comes to those in the age group of five to 11 years, this rate drops.
As of May 22, 54 percent of children aged five to 11 years had been fully vaccinated and 68 percent had had a single dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the province’s vaccination data.
COVID-19 vaccines have been available for children in that age group since last November. Since then, the province has been operating vaccination clinics exclusively for children aged five to 11 years throughout the island.
Then why does vaccine uptake within this age group seem to be lagging behind?
According to PEI’s Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Heather Morrison, COVID-19 infections may have something to do with it.
“We also had a large number of young people in this province with COVID and are therefore unable to get vaccinated,” Morrison said.
He said once a person is infected with COVID-19, they have to wait for three months to become immunized against the virus, which includes both the first and second doses.
“So I think some of the people who were waiting to be vaccinated got COVID and now they have to wait,” she said.
PEI still a leader in vaccine adoption
While vaccination rates for children between five and 11 may seem low on the PEI, the province is actually ahead of the national average.
According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, about 42 percent of children in this age group are fully vaccinated. In Ontario, that number is less than 40 percent and in Alberta only 33 percent.
Revath Devanandan is a global health epidemiologist and assistant professor of health sciences at the University of Ottawa. He said that vaccination for children in this age group has lagged behind across the country and COVID-19 infection is not the only reason behind it.
“It’s not surprising,” he said. “Largely because of the narrative that it is less severe in children. This is a questionable narrative and I think the attitude has done some damage to our COVID response and response.”
He said that while children are less likely to be symptomatic or hospitalized during a pandemic, it does not mean that they are immune to COVID-19.
Devanandan also said that with children not attending school sooner and further easing of COVID-19 restrictions, the urgency of vaccination may diminish for many.
“I think to be the opposite, I think we should vaccinate as many children as we can so that by the start of the school year, when the seventh wave is upon us, as it will likely be, we have been hard-pressed in our schools. immunity.”
He added that vaccination dramatically reduces the risk of hospitalization and death due to COVID-19 and that it slows transmission, even when it comes to the Omicron variant.
If vaccination rates among school children remain low until the start of the school year, he said September could bring repeated outbreaks in schools and high absenteeism among students, teachers and school staff.
Devanandan said that when it comes to increasing vaccination rates among this group, officials need to answer questions about the vaccine and identify those who haven’t received the answer, helping them get it. Need to feel comfortable.
The purpose of the UPEI project is to help
A team of researchers from UPEI is now working to make something similar.
They have launched a project to better understand islanders’ views on COVID-19 vaccines and the province’s immunization program, especially for young children and booster vaccines.
Lead researcher Kate Kelly said, “We are interested in determining what kinds of conversations islanders are having, for example about booster shots and how islanders make decisions about vaccinating their young children.”
The island is part of the Vaccine Assistance Program, which aims to encourage vaccine confidence, uptake and access.
The group launched an online survey and is calling on anyone over the age of 18 to participate in the PEI. The survey will run till June 24.
“There are a lot of things to consider when someone wants to be vaccinated or not. We’re also interested in understanding whether there are probably gaps in information access facing islanders,” Kelly said.
Project lead, William Montelpare, said the goal is to gather information about attitudes and understandings about vaccination on PEI and compare it with data collected in other provinces and countries.
“It gives some good background information about the involvement of people in immunization programs for COVID-19 in general and in particular,” he said.
“We want to increase the health literacy of individuals on the island relative to a number of factors and in this case the vaccination programs, and in particular COVID-19.”
Vaccination campaign in action
Morrison said the province is in discussions with other provinces about the best ways to reach parents, schools and children and educate them about the importance of COVID-19 vaccines.
He said the province and main public health offices are working on a campaign to encourage families to make sure children are up to date on COVID-19 vaccines before returning to school in the fall.
“Of course, I think we need to talk more about what we need to do to increase that rate, but we’ll do it almost like we’re going back to school and I think it’s What will be really important as we talk is a campaign to go back to school in which our kids are safe,” Morrison said.
