Parents in Toronto schools will be receiving an invitation to a vaccination survey Friday as health officials prepare a plan to vaccinate children aged 5 to 11, pending authorization of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for young children by Health Canada.
City officials said Friday that they are proactively conducting outreach and education sessions to families to help build vaccine confidence and to help plan for vaccine distribution.
Parents of children in all publicly funded schools will receive an email today to take part in a survey on vaccination planning. The city said that independent schools will also get an invitation for parents with young children to participate.
The survey is aimed at helping the city understand parents’ intentions when it comes to vaccinating young kids, as well as their preferences around how and where children are vaccinated. The city is also hoping to gather sociodemographic information on factors such as race and income to help focus vaccination campaign efforts.
“It talks about where for example, parents would like to see their children get vaccinated just on the basis of what's most convenient,” Mayor John Tory said Friday. “It talks about some of the hesitations that either parents or their children might have, a fear of needles and this kind of thing, so that we can have that information on a city-wide basis. But it helps us to make the plans that we have to make.”
The survey will be open until November 7. It includes 15 questions and is available in multiple languages.
“We also want to be available. We want to make sure that all vaccination partners are available to help answer your questions about vaccination,” Toronto Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa told reporters Friday morning. “So for us, that's why we have started a series of education sessions and town halls, all designed towards building vaccine confidence.”
Ontario’s COVID-19 science advisory table said earlier this week that schools should be a part of the vaccination rollout in the province.
Health Canada could give authorization for the pediatric COVID-19 shot as early as mid-November.
ONTARIO REPORTS 93 MORE SCHOOL-RELATED CASES
The preparations for a vaccine rollout to young kids come as Ontario reported 93 more school-related cases of COVID-19 Friday, pushing the number of school cases in the past 14 days over 1,000.
The latest figure is up slightly from the previous two days, but down from the 95 new cases reported a week ago.
The province reported 80 more school-related cases Thursday, 90 the day before and 150 on Tuesday that were confirmed over a three-day period ending on Monday afternoon.
Of the new cases today, 85 were in students, seven were in staff and one was not identified as either.
The latest figure brings the total number of school cases over the past 14 days to 1,004. Of those, 902 have been in students, 94 in staff and eight were not identified.
Some 520 (roughly 11 per cent) of Ontario’s government-funded schools currently have an active case. Two schools remain closed because of outbreaks.
The province also reported one new case in a school board partner, which refers to individuals such as bus drivers or health professionals working in schools. The province said the case is in Richmond Hill, but did not say what job the person does.
Ontario also reported eight new cases in child-care settings Friday, with one more home closed. The total number of cases in child-care settings in the past 14 days now stands at 135.
There are currently 88 active cases in child-care settings and a total of seven centres closed.
