Microbiologist encourages vaccinations for children as way out of pandemic

Pfizer has asked Health Canada to approve its vaccine for use in children aged five to 11, but some parents are still not sure they’ll get their kids immunized.

According to a recent survey by Angus Reid, about 23 per cent of parents said they will not be getting their children vaccinated for COVID-19.

Microbiologist Joseph Blondeau told Gormley on Wednesday that, with the Delta variant, children and the unvaccinated are how the virus is being transmitted.

“We do know in general children tend to tolerate this virus much better than adults and the likelihood of a child becoming hospitalized or requiring more elevated levels of care like an intensive care unit, it’s a very, very small percentage,” Blondeau said.

Blondeau said if kids aged five to 11 are getting their shots, it will raise herd immunity and could get us out of this pandemic.

“They do represent a significant proportion of the population and if we see a lot of that age group immunized, it will actually bring up the overall percentage of the population that’s immunized,” he said.

That age group makes up about 10 per cent of the population in Canada. If most of them get immunized, it would make all the difference, according to Blondeau.

“(It’s) likely going to be our way forward to bring this pandemic to an end,” he said.