Clear, detailed public health messaging key to get parents to vaccinate young kids against COVID-19: experts
Health Canada expected to approve vaccine for kids 5 to 11 on Friday
As the father of a young child, Jason Kindrachuk said he's empathetic toward parents who aren't sure whether they want to get their kids vaccinated against COVID-19.
But as eligibility opens to younger kids — with Health Canada expected to approve Pfizer-BioNTech's shot for those age five to 11 on Friday — the virologist said it's crucial that the government gives parents clear information to help them make responsible decisions.
That means laying out exactly what we know, and don't, about COVID-19 vaccines and the illness they're designed to protect against — and explaining how past experience with other vaccines can help us make choices now.
"It's very important for us to, I think, get that message out to parents — to say, 'Listen, this is the data we know, these are the things we don't necessarily know long term, but historically, here are the things that we are comfortable with,'" he said.
The assistant professor and Canada Research Chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba said that also means explaining that the pediatric COVID-19 vaccine was tested in clinical trials with kids in that age group.
So far, that testing has turned up no cases of rare but concerning side-effects seen in older people, like myocarditis and pericarditis.
For many parents, it will be key to understand that adverse effects usually show up within a few months of getting a vaccine — not years down the road.
"All the data we have from prior vaccination tells us that if there's going to be an adverse event, we're going to see it in this very early period. And by the way, [in] the kids that were in these clinical trials, we have not seen these adverse events," Kindrachuk said.
He said it's also important for parents to understand the role young kids play in spreading COVID-19 in Manitoba. Children five to 11 make up about 16 per cent of the province's new cases right now — and they're Manitoba's largest unvaccinated cohort.
"As parents, what is the risk of COVID that we feel comfortable with having in our community and where do we feel comfortable having our kids in that equation?" Kindrachuk said.
Layered approach needed
For parents who are hesitant to vaccinate their kids, keeping the lines of communication open and building trust is crucial, said Michelle Driedger, who is currently studying how to reach families with effective public health messaging around vaccines.
She said some of the parents she's spoken to in that research are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 themselves but have questions when it comes to vaccinating their kids.
"We know that parents will have a different risk tolerance when making a decision for themselves than they will for their own children," said Driedger, a professor in the department of community health sciences at the University of Manitoba.
That's why a more layered approach to public health messaging is needed, she said — adding more in-depth information to some of the province's existing Q&A-style communication.
"You need different approaches to meet the needs of different people," Driedger said.
"Not everyone is going to be satisfied by the short summary points that we often find on public health websites."
In a technical briefing on Wednesday, officials said the province is launching a new campaign aimed at getting information to kids and families about the COVID-19 shot.
Having easy access to credible, thorough information could also help combat the effect of rampant misinformation around COVID-19, Driedger said.
It might also help sway parents who are so afraid of the perceived risks of getting their kids vaccinated, they don't see an even greater risk: unvaccinated kids getting and spreading COVID-19.
"People who've managed to keep their kids safe this long also think that that's something that they can continue to do," she said.
"But how long can we do that?"
Vaccine survey
A recent survey the province commissioned to help inform its pediatric vaccine rollout suggested some similar feelings among Manitoba parents.
The Leger poll surveyed 460 Manitoba adults through an online panel from Sept. 9 to 12. That included 275 people with kids under 12.
Among vaccinated parents of kids age five to 11, 81 per cent of respondents said they'd also get their kids vaccinated. But 15 per cent said they weren't sure yet and four per cent were against it.
Meanwhile, the vast majority of unvaccinated parents who responded to the survey said they wouldn't vaccinate their kids either. But there was a group among the unvaccinated parent who said they weren't sure yet.
A margin of error cannot be calculated for online surveys, but for comparison purposes, a random sample of the same size would yield a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
With files from Alana Cole