Don’t go to the U.S. to get kids vaccinated, says infectious disease expert
Posted Nov 3, 2021 2:02 pm.
Last Updated Nov 4, 2021 6:32 am.
An Alberta infectious disease expert says Canadian parents itching to get their kids the COVID-19 shot should not travel to the States to do so.
Earlier this week, the CDC approved the child-sized vaccine doses for kids aged 5 to 11 south of the border. With Health Canada saying its decision could still be weeks away, some parents might be planning a quick trip to the U.S. to get their kids vaccinated.
READ MORE: Pfizer vaccine approved for U.S. youth aged 5-11. When can Canadians expect the same?
Dr. Craig Jenne, an assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Infectious Diseases at the University of Calgary, is cautioning against that.
“In general, we tend to really want to discourage sort of vaccine tourism or medical tourism. And that’s because we don’t necessarily have the right mechanisms to follow up on vaccine status and individual responses,” Jenne explained.
“We have to keep in mind, at this point, this vaccine has not been approved by Health Canada for this age group–although the early data is very encouraging.”
He says parents also need to keep in mind that Health Canada’s likely approval shouldn’t be too far away.
“We have lots of vaccine supply in Canada. So it should be a fairly quick transition from Health Canada approval to being able to get the vaccine to this age group.”
RELATED: Is the COVID-19 vaccine safe for children?
He also says that right now, other public health measures and having millions of eligible Canadians vaccinated are helping keep COVID at bay.
“We are seeing some protection. We are seeing the ability, for example, for this age of children to get out and enjoy some of their social activities, and not a significant rise in cases,” he said.
And while Jenne says getting younger kids vaccinated is a critical step in beating COVID-19, it’s best to wait for the full Health Canada report.
“They are privy to all of the data, the early data that was released, and high-level reporting released by the company,” he said.
“We will only see approval of this vaccine in the younger Canadians if Health Canada determines that there is a greater benefit in being vaccinated than not being vaccinated for this age group.”
-with files from Taylor Braat
