More than two million Canadian kids aged five to 11 are now eligible to get Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 pediatric vaccine — and with that comes an opportunity to get closer to reducing transmission of COVID-19 in the country.
But what will the rollout of vaccines for this age group do for national vaccination rates?
As one of the last remaining portions of the population to get vaccinated, kids aged five to 11 will play an important role, health experts say.
“Every additional person that gets vaccinated is a step in the right direction,” said Dr. Tehseen Ladha, a pediatrician and assistant professor of pediatrics at University of Alberta in Edmonton.
A boost to national rates
Doctors and mathematicians say it’s too soon to tell what the uptake in this age group will look like, as many immunization programs for kids started just days ago. Use of the pediatric vaccine was approved by Health Canada last Friday, with first doses arriving in the country on Sunday night.
“What we can do is look at the vaccination uptake in 12 to 17 year olds as sort of a proxy for how children and parents are thinking about vaccine,” said Caroline Colijn, a mathematics professor at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver and the Canada 150 Research Chair in Mathematics for Evolution, Infection and Public Health.
“Canada-wide, I think it’s about 87 per cent of 12 to 17 year-olds had at least a first dose. So if we imagine that five to 11 [year olds] would be around that same number, then that does boost the overall Canadian vaccination rate to closer to 85 per cent.”
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The goalposts for achieving herd immunity — the point at which enough of a population is immune to a virus that it cannot continue to viably spread — have shifted during the past 19 months.
Earlier in the pandemic, the threshold suggested by some was about 70 per cent. But more recently, health experts say that threshold should be higher because of the highly contagious delta variant.
“With the original COVID strain, if we were at 80 or 85 per cent, we would probably have very, very low transmission and not have to worry,” said Ladha.
“But the fact that we’re here now with delta, which is so much more transmissible, means that we need a herd immunity of closer to 90 per cent, 95 per cent.”
Canada isn’t near those percentages yet. As of Thursday, 79.2 per cent of the eligible population aged five and up were fully vaccinated, according to CBC’s vaccine tracker.
“There probably is some hesitancy on the part of parents,” said Dr. Christopher Labos, a Montreal cardiologist with a degree in epidemiology.
“I’m hoping a lot of that is going to go away once they see that there don’t appear to be major side-effects going on with this vaccine.”
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Last week, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said that modelling teams have been doing “a lot of work” to look at the trajectory of the pandemic and how vaccinating younger age groups could factor in.
Booster shots for those with waning immunity, paired with vaccination of the younger age groups, will help to get the pandemic under control, she said. But there are other factors, too.
“It all depends on the level of uptake in this population, as well as the timing of the epidemiology and the different ups and downs that we might experience in the coming weeks and months,” said Tam.
The first vial of pediatric COVID-19 vaccine used in Toronto. (Steve Russell/The Canadian Press)
At the start of November, children under 12 nationally had the highest incidence of reported cases, according to federal health data, as a large majority of eligible age groups are now fully vaccinated.
“Children in this age group are the last large segment of the population that needs to be vaccinated, and they’re making up a rising number of the new cases,” said Labos.
“If we can vaccinate them, that’s going to help bring COVID numbers down and help bring the vaccine numbers up.”
Uptake will vary
Both experts and some survey data suggest that parents’ plans for vaccinating their children could vary across the country.
An online survey released last month by Angus Reid Institute — and done before the pediatric vaccine was approved — found that 51 per cent of Canadian parents with kids in the five to 11 age group said they would get their child vaccinated.
But around 23 per cent of the 812 parents polled said they wouldn’t get the vaccine for their children.
Vaccine rollouts for kids aged five to 11 have started across the country this week. (Steve Russell/The Canadian Press)
In Ontario, 54 per cent of 161 parents who took part in the Angus Reid Institute survey said they will get their child vaccinated.
In Alberta, though, the percentage is a little lower, with 46 per cent of the 127 parents who responded to the Angus Reid Institute survey saying they would vaccinate their child.
“Indifferent provinces, it will vary, because there is really a reliance of families on information given to them by the government, of course, and public health policy,” said Ladha.
“In Alberta, there’s been a lot of diminishing of the seriousness of COVID in children, and that has led a lot of families to believe that it really isn’t necessary for their children to be vaccinated against COVID,” she said.
“When the reality is that COVID infection itself can have much more severe consequences — both in the short and long term — than the vaccination itself.”
Sentiment about the vaccine for younger children ranges across the country, according to a recent national survey done prior to Health Canada’s approval. (Steve Russell/The Canadian Press)
Getting back to ‘normal’
But even as kids across the country start to receive the vaccine, epidemiologists have noted that it is not herd immunity or bust. In practice, they say, the closer we get to that threshold, the better.
Some doctors have said that herd immunity could be unattainable, because of a variety of factors at play with COVID-19, suggesting that the focus should be on overall vaccination rates instead.
In Alberta, Ladha said she is focusing on just getting children vaccinated, as well as answering any questions parents might have, like why they should vaccinate their child to protect the community.
It’s important to remember that children exist within our communities, she said, and we need to protect them from the virus.
“It’s a step toward herd immunity. It’s a step toward ending this very long pandemic.”
Human Resources Officers must be very busy these days what with the general turnover of employees in our retail and business sectors. It is hard enough to find skilled people let alone potential employees willing to be trained. Then after the training, a few weeks go by then they come to you and ask for a raise. You refuse as there simply is no excess money in the budget and away they fly to wherever they come from, trained but not willing to put in the time to achieve that wanted raise.
I have had potentials come in and we give them a test to see if they do indeed know how to weld, polish or work with wood. 2-10 we hire, and one of those is gone in a week or two. Ask that they want overtime, and their laughter leaving the building is loud and unsettling. Housing starts are doing well but way behind because those trades needed to finish a project simply don’t come to the site, with delay after delay. Some people’s attitudes are just too funny. A recent graduate from a Ivy League university came in for an interview. The position was mid-management potential, but when we told them a three month period was needed and then they would make the big bucks they disappeared as fast as they arrived.
Government agencies are really no help, sending us people unsuited or unwilling to carry out the jobs we offer. Handing money over to staffing firms whose referrals are weak and ineffectual. Perhaps with the Fall and Winter upon us, these folks will have to find work and stop playing on the golf course or cottaging away. Tried to hire new arrivals in Canada but it is truly difficult to find someone who has a real identity card and is approved to live and work here. Who do we hire? Several years ago my father’s firm was rocking and rolling with all sorts of work. It was a summer day when the immigration officers arrived and 30+ employees hit the bricks almost immediately. The investigation that followed had threats of fines thrown at us by the officials. Good thing we kept excellent records, photos and digital copies. We had to prove the illegal documents given to us were as good as the real McCoy.
Restauranteurs, builders, manufacturers, finishers, trades-based firms, and warehousing are all suspect in hiring illegals, yet that becomes secondary as Toronto increases its minimum wage again bringing our payroll up another $120,000. Survival in Canada’s financial and business sectors is questionable for many. Good luck Chuck!. at least your carbon tax refund check should be arriving soon.
NORMAN WELLS, N.W.T. – Imperial Oil says it will temporarily reduce its fuel prices in a Northwest Territories community that has seen costs skyrocket due to low water on the Mackenzie River forcing the cancellation of the summer barge resupply season.
Imperial says in a Facebook post it will cut the air transportation portion that’s included in its wholesale price in Norman Wells for diesel fuel, or heating oil, from $3.38 per litre to $1.69 per litre, starting Tuesday.
The air transportation increase, it further states, will be implemented over a longer period.
It says Imperial is closely monitoring how much fuel needs to be airlifted to the Norman Wells area to prevent runouts until the winter road season begins and supplies can be replenished.
Gasoline and heating fuel prices approached $5 a litre at the start of this month.
Norman Wells’ town council declared a local emergency on humanitarian grounds last week as some of its 700 residents said they were facing monthly fuel bills coming to more than $5,000.
“The wholesale price increase that Imperial has applied is strictly to cover the air transportation costs. There is no Imperial profit margin included on the wholesale price. Imperial does not set prices at the retail level,” Imperial’s statement on Monday said.
The statement further said Imperial is working closely with the Northwest Territories government on ways to help residents in the near term.
“Imperial Oil’s decision to lower the price of home heating fuel offers immediate relief to residents facing financial pressures. This step reflects a swift response by Imperial Oil to discussions with the GNWT and will help ease short-term financial burdens on residents,” Caroline Wawzonek, Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance and Infrastructure, said in a news release Monday.
Wawzonek also noted the Territories government has supported the community with implementation of a fund supporting businesses and communities impacted by barge cancellations. She said there have also been increases to the Senior Home Heating Subsidy in Norman Wells, and continued support for heating costs for eligible Income Assistance recipients.
Additionally, she said the government has donated $150,000 to the Norman Wells food bank.
In its declaration of a state of emergency, the town said the mayor and council recognized the recent hike in fuel prices has strained household budgets, raised transportation costs, and affected local businesses.
It added that for the next three months, water and sewer service fees will be waived for all residents and businesses.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
TORONTO – A new report says many Canadian business leaders are worried about economic uncertainties related to the looming U.S. election.
The survey by KPMG in Canada of 735 small- and medium-sized businesses says 87 per cent fear the Canadian economy could become “collateral damage” from American protectionist policies that lead to less favourable trade deals and increased tariffs
It says that due to those concerns, 85 per cent of business leaders in Canada polled are reviewing their business strategies to prepare for a change in leadership.
The concerns are primarily being felt by larger Canadian companies and sectors that are highly integrated with the U.S. economy, such as manufacturing, automotive, transportation and warehousing, energy and natural resources, as well as technology, media and telecommunications.
Shaira Nanji, a KPMG Law partner in its tax practice, says the prospect of further changes to economic and trade policies in the U.S. means some Canadian firms will need to look for ways to mitigate added costs and take advantage of potential trade relief provisions to remain competitive.
Both presidential candidates have campaigned on protectionist policies that could cause uncertainty for Canadian trade, and whoever takes the White House will be in charge during the review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement in 2026.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.
