COVID-19: ‘Quebec will not abandon its efforts’ amid lagging vaccination rates among young kids
Global News
Provincial figures show around 65 per cent of children five to 11 have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the lowest rate of any age group eligible for the shot.
Quebec has not abandoned its campaign to vaccinate children under 12 against COVID-19 despite a significant slowdown in the effort to immunize that segment of the population, the province’s health department contends.
Provincial figures show around 65 per cent of children five to 11 have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the lowest rate of any age group eligible for the shot.
“Quebec is continuing its vaccination campaign for children under 12. Appointments are available across Quebec for this age group,” Health Department spokesman Robert Maranda said in an email.
“Quebec will not abandon its efforts, as long as people want to get the vaccine, they will be able to receive it.”
Fifty per cent of children five to 11 got their first dose of vaccine between Nov. 26, the date on which they became eligible for inoculation, and Dec. 17. It would take nearly another month for the immunization rate in that demographic to rise to 60 per cent.
The Health Department said 338 children under 12 received their first dose on Saturday. An average of 571 first doses have been administered a day to children under 12 over the past two weeks, according to Health Department data.
Maranda said it’s not exactly clear why the percentage of children under 12 who have been vaccinated is lower than that of young people 12 to 17. According to the Health Department, 99 per cent of young people in that age group have received at least one dose and 93 per cent have received at least two.
“It is difficult to get the exact reasons, however it is important to mention that starting at age 14, young people no longer need to obtain the consent of their parents to be vaccinated,” he said.
