“There are some parents who have been living almost in a bunker for the last two years … because they have high-risk children,” said Dr. Fatima Kakkar, an infectious disease specialist in Montreal.
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News that vaccines have been approved for the younger cohort is a huge relief for parents of immunocompromised children, said Dr. Fatima Kakkar, an infectious disease specialist in Montreal.
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Canada’s drug regulator announced Thursday that it has approved Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for infants and preschool children, making it the first approved vaccine for that age group in the country.
“After a thorough and independent scientific review of the evidence, the department has determined that the vaccine is safe and effective in preventing COVID-19 in children between six months and five years of age,” Health Canada said in a statement. It recommends that the vaccine be given in doses a quarter of those approved for adults.
The National Advisory Committee on Immunization gave provinces its consent to offer the vaccine to children in that age group on Thursday, recommending that children “may” be offered the vaccine.
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Kakkar hopes the parents of many of his patients will rush to schedule vaccination appointments.
“There are some parents who have been living almost in a bunker for the last two years, not going anywhere, not socializing, really limiting their activities because they have children who are at high risk,” he said. “This is very good news for them.”
Parents have limited their own activities and those of siblings of chronic patients to avoid contact with the virus. That has meant some kids haven’t been to daycare or camp since the pandemic began.
“Parents whose children have chronic conditions have that extra layer of concern that having COVID, even if it’s mild, would throw their condition off balance. It has impacted these fragile children, so to be able to return to some sort of normalcy with an added piece of mind is great.”
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In addition to potentially complicating their conditions, when these children test positive for COVID, it can disrupt their regular interventions, surgeries or scans.
Kakkar said that for the general population, he would leave it up to parents to make the decision about the vaccine for their children. Since the vaccine was tested during the Omicron wave, it’s hard to say how effective it will be in preventing infection against the latest mutations, she said.
“For children, there will not be a strong push to get vaccinated,” he said. “If parents are very concerned about transmission to older grandparents, that can be a benefit. Some people don’t want to take any chances with COVID, so while most kids do well, a certain group of healthy kids get severe COVID or post-COVID inflammatory syndrome. As an infectious disease doctor, whenever I have the opportunity to get vaccinated against any major disease, I recommend it, but in this case, I would support any decision.”
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Canada’s deputy director of public health, Dr. Howard Njoo, advocates that parents vaccinate their children to protect against serious illness, even if they have already been sick with COVID-19.
However, many Montreal parents who met with a reporter Thursday said they had not yet decided whether their infants or toddlers should be vaccinated.
“I’m going to wait and see after six months to see how it goes,” said Vito Memeo as he strapped his four-year-old son into a car seat outside his nursery in the Plateau-Mont-Royal district.
In contrast, Chantale Laprise said she didn’t need any more information to make the decision to vaccinate her one-year-old son, Leo. She said if she gives her child a chance to have a milder case of the virus, or prevents the spread to others, she’s all for it.
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“I’m definitely going to get him vaccinated before daycare starts,” Laprise said as she pushed a stroller. “I think some people will be hesitant, but I don’t have a problem with that now that it’s been recommended. My son was already pretty sick with COVID, and I think it could have been less severe if he had been vaccinated.”
Laura Osman of The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
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