Eight in 10 Canadian parents reject annual COVID shots for children
Federal survey finds child vaccination rates as low as 12 per cent as parents cite side effects and question whether the shots are necessary.
More than eight in 10 Canadian parents declined a COVID-19 shot for their children in the past year, as parental wariness persists years after pandemic mandates and public-health campaigns.
A new Public Health Agency of Canada survey obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter found 82 per cent of parents said their child had not received a COVID vaccine during the previous year.
Annual uptake fell as low as 12 per cent in Quebec.
When asked why their children were not vaccinated, parents most commonly said the shot was unnecessary. Another 25 per cent cited concerns about side effects.
The findings were drawn from questionnaires completed by 12,211 parents nationwide for the agency’s Childhood Seasonal Immunization Coverage Survey.
“Monitoring vaccine coverage on a regular basis helps improve vaccination programs and helps public health understand how well people are protected from various vaccine-preventable diseases,” the report said.
Provincial uptake ranged from 12 per cent in Quebec to 29 per cent in British Columbia.
New Brunswick recorded 13 per cent, followed by Ontario (17%), Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador (18%), Prince Edward Island (20%), Nova Scotia (21%), Manitoba (26%) and Saskatchewan (27%).
