With the approval of a COVID-19 vaccine for younger children on the horizon, just over half of Canadian parents say they would immediately vaccinate their own kids against the virus.
Fifty-one per cent of the 812 parents surveyed said that they would immediately vaccinate their five to 11 year old children against the virus, while 18 per cent said they would do it “eventually.”
A total of 23 per cent said they would not vaccinate their kids, while nine per cent said they were “not sure.”
Pfizer officially asked Health Canada Monday (Oct. 18) to approve its COVID-19 vaccine for five to 11 year old children. B.C.’s provincial health officer urged parents to register their kids in the Get Vaccinated system, saying that shots could be in arms as early as November.
As soon as the regulator gives the green light, providers will be able to start offering the COVID-19 shot to kids, though new child-sized doses might need to be procured.
The doses are about one-third the size given to adults and teens age 12 and up.
Overall, pollsters found that Atlantic Canada, Ontario and B.C. had the highest percentage of parents – at 75 per cent, 74 per cent and 73 per cent, respectively – who said they would immediately or eventually vaccinate their children against COVID-19.
The highest percentage of parents who would do it immediately were found in Ontario at 54 per cent, Saskatchewan and Manitoba at 53 per cent and B.C. at 51 per cent, although pollsters cautioned that a smaller than average sample size in B.C. could make those answers less precise.
