A poll of parents of children age five to 11 in Saskatchewan shows the majority to be comfortable with having their children vaccinated.
According to a poll by Insightrix for the week of Nov. 15, parents of children aged 5-11 show mixed levels of comfort in getting their children vaccinated.
When asked. “How comfortable are you getting your children aged 5-11 vaccinated when the shots become available,” 61 per cent were in the comfortable range, made up of 21 per cent being somewhat comfortable and 40 per cent being very comfortable.
Twenty-eight per cent said they were not comfortable at all and 11 per cent said not that comfortable.
Health Canada has authorized the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty vaccine in children 5 to 11 years of age. Until now, this vaccine was authorized for use in people 12 years of age or older.
The announcement was made Friday.
To determine whether the vaccine is effective, Health Canada looked at the immune response in the age group and found the response was comparable to adolescents and young adults 16 to 25 years of age. Saskatchewan Health Authority operations manager Derek Miller said the province is prepared to begin distributing youth vaccinations as soon as doses are delivered by federal providers.
Miller did not have details on a timeline, as action will depend on the federal government’s provision of the promised 112,000 pediatric doses.
Saskatchewan first revealed details of the plan to vaccinate children under 12 on Oct. 26, stating that the program will largely take place in targeted pediatric vaccine clinics.
Chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab said that like the previous youth vaccination efforts for ages 12 to 17, immunization will not be required for younger children to be at school. Nor does public health plan to add youth to the proof of vaccination policy currently in place for those above age 18, he added.
