Medical experts remind caregivers about the importance of child vaccines
Medical experts remind caregivers about the importance of child vaccines
With more and more kids falling behind, medical experts are reminding parents about the importance of child vaccinations.
Be it COVID-19 or routine vaccinations, the child uptake rate is low and that has some concerned.
"This is the first time we're dealing with the COVID pandemic and a full-on flu season so our message is clear, to get vaccinated, caught up on our COVID vaccinations," said Dr. Rose Zacharias, president of the Ontario Medical Association.
"Every child six months and older (should) get a flu shot this season and also back-to-school, routine immunizations are behind in kids. So we do want families to make appointments with their family care providers to get caught up on those shots."
Nationwide, the OMA said kids ages 5-11 are only at 40 per cent vaccine uptake, compared to 82 per cent of the general population.
Earlier this week, that same age group of children became eligible for their first COVID-19 booster shot in Ontario.
"We are encouraging everyone to come in and get caught up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines," said Zacharias.
"This time of year, COVID and viruses of all types like to travel indoors and so as we gather in classrooms, indoor settings and the colder weather, it's more likely that we'll be passing viruses among us so getting caught up on our vaccines is key."
"Locally in our districts, we do have, unfortunately, a large number … of children that are overdue for their routine immunizations," said Public Health Sudbury and Districts Christina Ashawasegai.
Ashawasegai, who works with the schools, said it's due to several reasons, including having to pause their regularly scheduled programming because of the pandemic.
"Because of that, Public Health has been reviewing all the records of every eligible child within our districts," she said.
"We've been contacting them to let them know they're overdue. Please make an appointment, we're trying right now to meet people where they're at-- we have mobile clinics and we're offering clinics at our Paris Street location, but also other areas within the district to make sure we can reach everyone."
Routine immunizations include everything from tetanus, HPV and mumps.
"We ask you to consider all vaccines and make those decisions in consultation with your health care provider, Public Health and weigh your own personal situation," Ashawasegai said.
"Vaccines are safe and we ask that everyone who is eligible receives them in a timely manner. Vaccines are very important."
Those who don't get them risk getting the illness themselves and passing it on to those who are more vulnerable and immunocompromised.
More information on the vaccine clinics at Public Health Sudbury & Districts can be found on its website.
A gay man is taking the federal government to court, challenging the constitutionality of a policy restricting sexually active gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned.
A Quebec woman said she was very surprised to find her stolen Audi had been used in what’s being described as an “absolutely insane” Ontario mall robbery.
A team of preteen Ukrainian refugees that have been scattered across Europe by war arrived Wednesday in Quebec City, where they'll get the chance to compete in a renowned hockey tournament.
Nearly a year since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, community organizers say there is still work to be done to help the thousands of Ukrainian refugees looking to start a new life in Canada while coping with the hardships they've faced coming here.
After a tiny radioactive capsule went missing in the Australian outback, an expert in Canada says the likelihood of the same happening in this country is unlikely, given our strong regulations governing the handling of radioactive materials.
As Black History Month gets underway, Canada Post has unveiled a new stamp honouring Chloe Cooley, a young Black woman who was known to challenge her enslavement in the late 18th century.
As the City of Barrie prepares for extreme cold to move through the area later this week, local shelters are working on expanding space for those in need.
A Quebec woman said she was very surprised to find her stolen Audi had been used in what’s being described as an “absolutely insane” Ontario mall robbery.
Hundreds of tenants at a midtown Toronto apartment building have been without heat for a week now, and many are worried with the arrival of bitter-cold temperatures.
Ottawa ranks 45th out of 62 cities across Canada and the United States in a study on downtown recovery, with activity levels at 51 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.
While crews have resumed operations in an attempt to open the Rideau Canal Skateway for its 53rd season, an NCC spokesperson tells CTV News Ottawa the canal will not open in time for the first weekend of Winterlude on Friday.
A hearing is underway to determine if Udo Haan is not criminally responsible for the death of his wife Edra Haan, who was found in the aftermath of the 2018 house explosion in Kitchener, Ont.
Chief Mark Crowell made a presentation at a council meeting Wednesday justifying the proposed $214 million budget for the Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS).
Gillian Burnett was almost finished her work day on Jan. 24 when she received a terrifying call about her young son. Waylon, 20-months-old, was found submerged in an outdoor pool at a home daycare near Petrolia, Ont.
Following a suicide bomb blast that killed more than 100 people in a mosque in Pakistan’s northern city of Peshawar, community leaders in Windsor-Essex are reminding people these attacks are rare and should not be simply dismissed as a byproduct of living in that part of the world.
Canada's new special representative on combating Islamophobia has apologized for words that hurt Quebecers after leaders in that province called for her resignation.
Montreal police say two men are in hospital Wednesday night with stab wounds after an altercation in a home in the city's Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough.
A new 911 dispatch system in New Brunswick means that now fire departments aren’t getting dispatched to all medical calls leaving residents waiting and first responders in the dark.
More than four months after Hurricane Fiona hit Atlantic Canada, people are still dealing with damaged homes as they wait for help from insurance companies and provincial aid programs.
The organization regulating medical care and services in Manitoba is apologizing for racism directed towards Indigenous people when accessing health care in the province.
Calgary police are looking for suspects involved in an altercation that lasted for approximately an hour, spanned several communities and ended with a gun being fired.
Tsuut'ina Nation Police Service officials are encouraging any local victims to come forward following the arrest of actor Nathan Lee Chasing Horse in Las Vegas on sex assault charges.
Alberta's former chief medical officer of health has landed a new role in British Columbia. Dr. Deena Hinshaw was named a deputy provincial health officer for B.C. on Wednesday.
B.C.'s Ministry of Health is continuing its multi-year trend of paying millions more dollars each year to private surgical centres for the delivery of public health care, CTV News has learned.
Changes to the amount of time the public gets to voice their opinion during Surrey City Council meetings has caused controversy among former councillors.
