Vaccinating young kids may take time but experts ready to discuss parents’ concerns – CBC

‘Most people never want to be the first in line to do something new,’ says medical anthropologist

Nov 24, 2021

With provinces and territories now rolling out plans to COVID-19 vaccinate children aged five to 11, many parents eagerly signed their children up to be among the first in line.

But not everyone is pouncing on the opportunity. Some parents have more questions before their kids get the jab.

Nathan Maharaj and his wife were up bright and early Tuesday registering their nine-year-old son for his first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in Toronto.

He’s excited Edmund can feel safer returning to karate classes, for instance, and will feel more comfortable planning visits to Ripley’s Aquarium, Ontario Science Centre or the movies.

“It’s a threshold we needed to cross to do things that we were comfortable doing before and as things are opening up again,” Maharaj said.

“We don’t want to be going there and then, you know, for the next 72 hours praying for no symptoms of anything to emerge and then also isolating from others because who knows what we’re carrying.”

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/covid-vaccination-kids-1.6258489