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
Spectacular aurora light show to be seen across Canada Friday night
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Town of Fort Nelson, B.C., ordered to evacuate due to wildfire
The entire town of Fort Nelson, B.C., as well as the nearby Fort Nelson First Nation, has been ordered to evacuate due to an out-of-control wildfire.
Bouchard lifts Edmonton Oilers to 4-3 overtime win over Canucks in Game 2
Evan Bouchard scored 5:38 into overtime and the Edmonton Oilers bounced back for a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs on Friday.
McGill University seeks emergency injunction to dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment
McGill University has filed a request for an injunction to have the pro-Palestinian encampment removed from its campus.
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
Video shows naked raccoon catching B.C. family by surprise
When Marvin Henschel spotted a strange and hairless creature wandering through a front lawn in B.C.'s Lower Mainland, he could barely believe his eyes.
Barron Trump declines to serve as an RNC delegate
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's youngest son, Barron Trump, has declined to serve as a delegate at this summer’s Republican National Convention, according to a senior Trump campaign adviser and a statement from Melania Trump's office.
Out-of-control wildfire prompts evacuation alert for Fort McMurray, Saprae Creek Estates Friday night
An evacuation alert was issued for two Wood Buffalo communities Friday night, as crews battled an out-of-control wildfire near Fort McMurray.