Canada won't achieve herd immunity without vaccinating children under 12, experts say
No matter how successful vaccination campaigns are it's unlikely Canada will achieve herd immunity without immunizing children, especially as a return to school means they will gather together in the fall, physicians say.
And though almost four in five eligible people across Ontario have received at least one vaccine, the picture looks a lot less positive when those figures include children, who won’t be able to get a shot for months.
"Children are as efficient as adults when it comes to the spread of the Delta variant," Dr. Iris Gorfinkel, a family physician and researcher, told CTV News Toronto. "They are a critical part of the population to get vaccinated."
The spread of the Delta variant is a big concern for parents looking at returning children under 12 to school, said Lindsay Siple, whose three children under twelve will be heading back after the summer.
"You have a big group of kids who are under 12, who are not yet eligible to get vaccines, especially with the Delta variant that’s coming in, I’m nervous about what the numbers are looking like and whether we’re setting ourselves up for another shutdown," Siple said.
One of her daughters, Elise, said she is hoping that social distancing measures and masks will work when she returns to Grade four.
"I'm very excited to see all my friends," she said. "I think if everybody follows the rules the numbers won’t go very high."
Provincial figures show 79.6 per cent of Ontario’s population 12 and over have received at least one dose of a vaccine. That drops to 69.9 per cent when children are included.
There are similar figures in Toronto, with 79.9 per cent of people over 12 who have at least one dose, and 71.0 per cent when children are included.
The goal of herd immunity, where outbreaks don’t spread because enough people are immune to the disease, is about 90 per cent, Gorfinkel said.
"Do the math. If 12 per cent of the population is under 12, that means 88 per cent is the best we can do if everybody got vaccinated. In other words, we cannot achieve herd immunity without vaccinating the children," she said.
Including those areas, the vaccine coverage map looks bleaker, with multiple areas in the GTA where more than one in three people have not received any shots.
That’s the situation in some 17 postal code zones in Toronto, nine in Hamilton, six in Peel region, and six in Durham region.
By that measure, Thorncliffe Park for example has four in ten people without any vaccines at all, despite months of targeting the area as a hot spot, because officials say it’s “home to a large number of youth under 12 years old who are not eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in Canada.”
The effect of the vaccine on younger people is being examined now, with preliminary data expected for ages five to 11 in the fall, and for under five years old in the winter.
Canada’s Health Minister, Patty Hajdu, said this week that Health Canada will review the data when it arrives.
“Until they submit the approval, we know our children are unprotected. And children can get COVID-19. Children can get very sick. And I don’t think anyone wants to see their child struggle in a hospital bed, or have to stay home, or god forbid have an outbreak in a community that requires school closures,” Hajdu said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
There's actually no such thing as vegetables. Here's why you should eat them anyway
The rumours are true: Vegetables aren't real — that is, in botany, anyway. While the term fruit is recognized botanically as anything that contains a seed or seeds, vegetable is actually a broad umbrella term.
'It looked so legit': Ontario man pays $7,700 for luxury villa found on Booking.com, but the listing was fake
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
The Met Gala was in full bloom with Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Mindy Kaling among the standout stars
The Met Gala and its fashionista A-listers on Monday included Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya and a parade of others in a swirl of flora and fauna looks on a green-tinged carpet lined by live foliage.
Israeli forces seize Rafah border crossing in Gaza, putting ceasefire talks on knife's edge
Israeli tanks seized control of Gaza's vital Rafah border crossing on Tuesday as Israel brushed off urgent warnings from close allies and moved into the southern city even as cease-fire negotiations with Hamas remained on a knife's edge.
Canadian cadets rock mullets and place second at U.S. military competition
Sporting mullets, Canadian Armed Forces officer cadets placed second in an annual military skills competition in the U.S.
Highlights from the 2024 Met Gala exhibit: Sleeping Beauty would wake up for these gowns
Sure, she was a royal princess and all. But there’s no way Sleeping Beauty — either before or after her nap — ever had quite the fabulous wardrobe that’s been assembled at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Noelia Voigt resigns as Miss USA, citing her mental health
Noelia Voigt, who was crowned Miss USA in November 2023, has announced she is resigning from her role, saying the decision is in the best interest of her mental health.
Putin begins his fifth term as president, more in control of Russia than ever
Vladimir Putin began his fifth term Tuesday as Russian leader at a glittering Kremlin inauguration, setting out on another six years in office after destroying his political opponents, launching a devastating war in Ukraine and concentrating all power in his hands.
Winnipeg man admits to killing four women, argues he's not criminally responsible
Defence lawyers of Jeremy Skibicki have admitted in court the accused killed four Indigenous women, but argues he is not criminally responsible for the deaths by way of mental disorder – this latest development has triggered a judge-alone trial rather than a jury trial.