Systemic barriers holding back vaccination rates for many kids

With a push underway to get more kids vaccinated now that schools are back in session, concerns are again being raised about lagging rates in communities where many immigrants live.

Across Alberta, only a little over 39 per cent of kids aged 5 to 11 have received one dose of a vaccine and only 4.5 per cent have two doses.

In Calgary, that rate swings widely depending on which community you look at. In areas such as the northwest and Elbow, over 60 per cent of kids in that age range have received one dose. But in inner-city communities and the northeast, that number can fall to as low as 22 per cent.

Similar problems were seen in past waves of the virus, particularly in the northeast where there was slow uptake among adults. But similar to what was happening at that point, this is not about hesitancy and more about systemic barriers.

Read more:

• ‘Creative’ options sought as vaccination rates remain slow in east Calgary

• Drop-in clinic aims to boost vaccination rates in east Calgary

“It’s really an issue of equity because we knew that this was going to happen,” said Anila Lee Yuen, president and CEO of the Centre for Newcomers. “I think that’s been the biggest challenge and the biggest frustration.”

When the rates were low among adults, groups like the Centre for Newcomers and the municipal government jumped into action by providing more information across a broad range of languages and rolling out mobile vaccination clinics to increase access to the shots.

However, it seems like the gains made last year have fallen to the wayside, with less being done right away to improve the situation for young children during this wave of Omicron infections.

WATCH: CityNews’ Crystal Laderas reports on one northeast family physician who says to give him COVID vaccines and he will run vaccine clinics for free to help boost uptake numbers.

“Parents are still working, they’re still doing shift work, they’re still not able to book an appointment for their children. They’re still having transportation issues, there’s still instances of not having reliable internet or reliable telephone to even book an appointment if you can do so,” Lee Yuen added.

An obvious suggestion is to get vaccinations into schools, but since that is not an option at this time it is also not quite enough to put responsibilities on the shoulders of teachers to try and share more information with their students.

“Especially when we’re talking about northeast schools, we need information that is plain language, in first language. We need to have the ability to have people be able to call and connect with international medical graduates to be able to speak in first language or doctors that are here that can speak in first language,” she said.

“(Parents) want to know all kinds of different pieces of information, every parent wants to know this information.

“There needs to be a lot more than just providing information because the barriers are still there.”

Calgary’s mayor said there are some efforts getting underway to help out, adding work is happening with the provincial government to try and find some solutions.

Related articles: 

City of Calgary looking at ways to boost vaccination numbers in children

“We will do everything we can to make sure that we are able to support the provincial initiative, we will remind our provincial partners where their supports are needed. We will deploy our mobile vehicles to wherever we can possibly get them out,” Mayor Jyoti Gondek said. “It’s important to remember that vaccinating kids is a significant task and it’s one that we have to undertake in a united manner especially because they are back at school.”

Lee Yuen said we do not have the luxury of time as cases continue to go up, and we also see increasing impacts on kids who get the virus.

Throughout the pandemic, there have been serious issues raised about a lack of vaccine access to poorer countries around the world, but this again shows that even if you live in a wealthy country such as Canada the problems may not go away, especially if English is not your first language or you don’t have the luxury of a high income and only needing to work one job.

“It’s really heartbreaking for me to be able to see the fact that we have them available, but we haven’t put in the community engagement effort to eliminate those equity issues and those systemic issues to be able to have every child in Calgary get the vaccine.”