Ontario’s top public health official says that the “clock is ticking” when it comes to improving youth vaccination rates in time for the resumption of school in the fall.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore made the comment during a briefing on Tuesday as he discussed the role that high vaccination rates will play in ensuring that schools can function “as close as possible to the pre-pandemic normal” come September.
Currently in Ontario more than 78 per cent of adult residents have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine but that number is only 58.6 per cent among youth ages 12 to 17 and 66.5 per cent among individuals ages 18 to 29.
No COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for use in elementary-aged children so far.
“When factoring in the interval required for the two doses and time to build immunity from the vaccine the clock is ticking. We want our young people to be able to enjoy social activities again at schools and at colleges and universities. We want them to enjoy their sports, music, theater and social events. But for that to occur safely, we need a very high level of immunization,” Moore said. “Time is of the essence.”
Schools in the GTA were closed for in-person learning for the first six weeks of 2021. They then reopened in mid-February but were shuttered again in April as COVID-19 case counts surged.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce has said that he expects in-person classes to resume in the fall alongside many extracurricular activities which were cancelled this past school year.
The government, however, has not yet released a plan for the fall so it remains unclear what that might look like and whether other pandemic-era practices like cohorting will continue.
Moore told reporters on Tuesday that he is “optimistic” that Ontario will be able to achieve “high levels of protection in high schools” without implementing immunization policies but he said that is something that could be considered should vaccination rates stall.
In the meantime, he said that he is speaking out about the “gaps” in vaccination rates among different age groups in the hopes that it will serve as “a call to arms” for young people to roll up their sleeves over the coming weeks.
“We need to start the fall with the highest rate of immunization possible,” he said.
No target for vaccination rates
Moore did not provide a specific target for what would be considered an adequate vaccination rate among eligible school-aged children though in a subsequent interview with CTV News Toronto on Tuesday Dr. Charles Gardner, the Chair of the Council of Medical Officers of Health, said that “ideally” 80 per cent of students would be fully vaccinated.
Lecce also said during an unrelated press conference on Tuesday morning that high vaccination rates will be an important part of having a “more normal September” that will include the resumption of extracurricular activities “with some adaptations.”
“Our message to students is that getting a vaccine is an enabler for a normal return in September so we have to see that vaccine rate continue to rise,” he said.
