Local vaccination rates for young kids falling well below Ontario target

Vaccination rates in Windsor-Essex for kids ages five to 11 are well below the provincial goal, prompting local health officials to target parents who may be sitting on the fence.

Roughly 40 per cent of children in that age group have received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while only 15 per cent have gotten a second shot. The Province of Ontario has set a goal for that age bracket at 70 per cent.

During Thursday's Windsor-Essex County Health Unit media briefing, two guests were brought in to reinforce public health messaging on the importance of vaccinating kids.

"As a mother and a parent, I definitely understand that this decision can weigh heavily on each one of us, but the science and the data, as we've spoken about, show this vaccine is safe and serious side effects are very rare," Dr. Andrea Steen, chief of staff at Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare.

As a family physician and president of the Essex County Medical Society, Dr. Vikesh Maraj has fielded many questions from patients who were vaccine hesitant.

'Misunderstandings' sometimes fuel opinions of the unvaccinated, doctor says

In his practice, he said he asks their vaccination status during every visit. When speaking to his unvaccinated patients, he said 95 per cent of the time they made that choice because of "misunderstandings."

"Some of them are very easy to set straight, and some of them it takes a discussion because they subscribe to some of these thoughts and theories about what the nefarious intentions of government may be," he said, some of which he describes as "extreme."

Sweden not recommending vaccine for kids ages 5-11

But one other country has taken a different stance on vaccinating kids ages five to 11. Two weeks ago, Sweden decided against recommending the COVID-19 vaccine for that age group. According to Reuters, officials said the benefits do not outweigh the risks.

"With the knowledge we have today, with a low risk for serious disease for kids, we don't see any clear benefit with vaccinating them," Health Agency official Britta Bjorkholm told a news conference, acknowledging that decision can be revisited if research or variants change.

However, the acting medical officer of health in Windsor-Essex again Thursday urged the Province of Ontario to add the COVID-19 vaccine to the list of other vaccinations required to attend school under the Immunization for School Pupils Act.

Dr Maraj said there's a disconnect between adults and parents who have chosen to get themselves vaccinated, but at the same time opted not to get the shot for their young children

"I think it comes back to reluctance, concerns about safety," he said.

Many of the parents in this situation are sitting on the fence, he said, and "just need to be nudged and educated and reassured" about the importance of the vaccine for young kids.

He said the best place to have the conversation is in the office with your family physician, who knows your family's medical history. Maraj said vaccines are "extremely safe and the benefits of vaccines by far outweigh any risks," even for children ages five to 11.

"We know for sure that vaccines help to break the chain of transmission," said Maraj.

For the last 30 years, Steen has been practicing medicine and she said some of the same vaccine hesitancy emerged in the late 90s when the chicken pox vaccine was introduced.

"No one even hesitates to get that shot now, but at the beginning there was that nervousness," she said.

Two new COVID deaths reported Thursday

Also Thursday, the health unit reported two new COVID-related deaths, and 119 new high-risk cases of the virus.

There are currently 641 active high-risk cases of COVID-19 in the region; of those 62 are in hospital, and eight are in the ICU.

There are also 48 ongoing outbreaks:

• 15 in long-term care facilities or retirement homes;
• six in hospital units;
• 20 community outbreaks, and
• seven workplace outbreaks.

There have been a total of 572 deaths associated with the virus in Windsor-Essex to date.