Vaccination rates for Alberta kids ages 5-11 are the lowest in Canada, but experts see hope ahead
CBC
Alberta is lagging behind all other Canadian provinces and territories when it comes to getting children aged five to 11 vaccinated against COVID-19, publicly available data shows.
Accessibility is a roadblock, and so is vaccine hesitancy among parents and guardians.
But some experts are confident steps can be taken to improve vaccination rates by making it easier for children to get the jab, while continuing to push the research and data proving the vaccine is safe for children.
Public health experts who spoke with CBC News believe that improving vaccine uptake among younger Albertans will be key to protecting them from the illness.
Alberta has been behind the rest of Canada since the reporting week of Dec. 25, federal data shows. The latest federal numbers, for the week of Jan. 15, show 39.81 per cent of Alberta children have received their first doses compared to 47.44 per cent of children in British Columbia — the province with the second-lowest rate.
Provincial data shows Alberta's vaccination rate for children aged five to 11 has since increased to 42.5 per cent as of Jan. 20.
"I would definitely love to see the number be a lot higher than it is today, but I am encouraged by the people that have come out and taken that opportunity to protect their kids," said Dr. Kristin Klein, lead medical officer of health for communicable diseases at Alberta Health Services (AHS).
In November, Health Canada approved pediatric doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children ages five to 11. Two doses are recommended, at least eight weeks apart.
CBC News analyzed publicly available COVID-19 child vaccination data from the 132 local geographic areas within the five zones of AHS.
The analysis shows uptake is generally higher in Calgary and Edmonton. The analysis also shows that vaccination rates are lower for young children in areas where vaccination rates are low for people aged 12 and up.
As of Jan. 20, only 23 of the 132 AHS local geographic areas had seen more than half of children aged five to 11 get their first doses of vaccine.
Most of those areas are within the Calgary and Edmonton health zones. The only other areas represented are Jasper, in the North zone, and Lethbridge-West, in the South zone.
Many areas in Alberta have had fewer than one in three children get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Some of those places are in the cities of Edmonton and Calgary. Others include Fort Macleod, Fort McMurray and Red Deer.
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