Early Toronto data reveals inequities in vaccine uptake among children

It’s a picture of the Toronto map the city has seen before with adults: Higher vaccination rates in some wealthier neighbourhoods and in the core, compared to some lower income areas with lower rates, especially in the northwest and east.

Leaside and Forest Hill are among the top places where kids five to 11 years old have been vaccinated. Meanwhile, Beechborough-Greenbrook, near Eglinton Avenue West and Keele Street has one of the lowest rates with just 8.9 per cent.

Using data provided by Toronto Public Health, the local, a non-profit magazine created the map and discovered in the top five neighbourhoods uptake was around 65 per cent compared to 11 per cent.

It found more school cases and outbreaks are happening in the same spots as lower immunization.

“You would think those would be the areas where we should be targeting vaccination as much as possible to offer that protection, but that’s really not the case,” said Editor-in-chief of The Local Tai Huynh.

They hope the information it found can reduce inequities and be used to improve children’s access to the vaccine.

Toronto Public Health said the early data should be interpreted with caution as school-based clinics began last week and the campaign for this group started two weeks ago. 

It says more data with a longer time frame will better inform efforts. In some areas, like Taylor Massey, where there was a focus had an uptake of 25 per cent.

Barriers to the vaccine can include language, transportation and misinformation said paediatric infectious disease specialist, Dr. Anna banerji.

“You try and make it as easy as possible so the people on the people sitting on the fence, the people who say it’s too much trouble, if you make it easy a lot of people will get vaccinated,” she said.