kking@medicinehatnews.com
Health-care organizations from across the country will come together Jan. 27 for the inaugural National Kids and Vaccination Day, which aims to provide the public with information about children’s vaccinations for COVID-19.
The day was organized by ScienceUpFirst in partnership with Children’s Healthcare Canada and the Sandbox Project, among others.
“It’s really a day where we’re trying to bring together experts in child health to answer questions that parents, families and children may have about the COVID vaccine,” Dr. Katharine Smart, president of the Canadian Medical Association and pediatrician, told the News. “Sometimes it’s challenging for people to have access to a health-care professional to get those questions answered so this is sort of like one-stop shopping, where we’ve got lots of expertise in the room (covering) everything from the vaccine science, down to ‘What do I do if my child’s afraid of needles?'”
There are two main virtual events scheduled for the day; a free, virtual Kids and Vaccines Town Hall hosted by ScienceUpFirst at 6 p.m. MST and a free full-day virtual information sharing conference hosted by Children’s Healthcare Canada and Solutions for Kids in Pain, along with AHS and Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton.
Smart hopes the day will encourage parents and caregivers to consider COVID vaccination for their children, if they have not already done so.
“What we’re seeing is vaccination rates in kids five to 11 are really lagging behind other age groups in the country,” she said. “I think, the concern is we’re in a phase now where we have a rapid spreading variant. We know that most children do well with COVID but some don’t. We want to avoid any poor outcomes for children that can be prevented and we know one of the best ways to prevent severe outcomes is having your child vaccinated.
“We know certain parts of the country have less vaccine uptake and that Alberta is one of them… That’s a concern because we know when you have a lower vaccination rate in your population, you’ve got more risk of severe outcomes, more risk of hospital overwhelm. I think what we want to do is make sure parents have the right information so they can take this step in providing this protection to their kids.”
Dr. Samina Ali, pediatric emergency doctor at Stollery Children’s Hospital and a professor of pediatrics at the University of Alberta, agrees.
“Right now with COVID, children (ages 0-17) are the largest unvaccinated cohort of Canadians so they’re the ones we need to look out for,” Ali told the News.
Ali will be providing expertise on National Kids and Vaccines Day. She hopes not only the public will attend, but healthcare professionals who work with children as well.
“It’s easy to register for and it’s meant to share information,” said Ali, who plans to provide tips and tricks on how to make the vaccination process less stressful for children and parents.
The events are open to everyone, registration can be completed online at the ScienceUpFirst and Children’s Healthcare Canada websites.
