But only 10% of primary school-aged children vaccinated against the deadly virus in 2016 and 2017
Two-thirds of Toronto parents ‘certain or somewhat likely’ to get young kids vaccinated against COVID-19, survey says
A leading respiratory virus has been spreading through the country’s largest city, and two-thirds of parents are unsure or “certain” about whether they will inoculate their kids against it, according to a survey released this week.
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The National Poll on Children’s Health from the advocacy group Pollara Canada found that 57% of parents in the survey said they would not inoculate their own children against the deadly virus called COVID-19, with 33% either “very” or “somewhat” uncertain.
The pollsters said a highly controlled online survey of 2,511 Toronto residents ranged from ages 15- to 65-years-old. It was conducted from 1-23 August.
Two in five of those polled were new Canadians and admitted to living in Toronto for less than two years.
The pollsters said that while the poll was narrow in scope it was encouraging for researchers who are studying the outbreak’s effects.
“As there are no public surveys conducted in Toronto and we have barely had time to gather any data, this is an encouraging response from parents to disease concerns. It suggests that Canadian parents are among the most critical, early responders in an epidemic,” said Ravi Desai, Pollara’s director of health research.
An outbreak of COVID-19 killed 19 people and sickened almost 600 in Ontario between July 2016 and July 2017, before being detected and controlled.
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Pollara Canada said the survey was intended to identify problems with the immunization program as the city is not fully funding the outreach program.
Only 10% of four- to seven-year-olds in Toronto have been vaccinated against COVID-19, which causes low-grade fever, coughing, sneezing and sometimes worse. Most secondary school-aged children have not been inoculated.