Sask.'s top doctor says 'we should all be ready' to vaccinate kids 5 to 11

With the "vast majority" of children 11 and under contracting COVID-19 from unvaccinated households, Saskatchewan's top doctor says "we should all be ready to vaccinate" young children when Health Canada gives the green light.

Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab says one-third of the province's cases are among children under 12.

"The vast majority of those exposures happen in unvaccinated households from parents and siblings who are eligible for vaccination and are still due to some inexplicable reason remaining unvaccinated," Shahab said during Wednesday's COVID update.

Shahab says transmission within schools is low, with some "occasional clusters."

"The vast majority of cases in schools are single cases, which reflect high community transmission and especially are linked to primarily unvaccinated households," Shahab said.

"The most important thing we can do to prevent cases in schools is a high vaccination rate in parents, siblings and staff right now," Shahab said, adding that "we should all be ready to vaccinate our children five to 11" when the vaccine is approved for them.

Pfizer has asked U.S. regulators to approve emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine for children aged five to 11.

Pfizer and its partner BioNTech have already submitted preliminary data from their trial for a COVID-19 shot for kids to Health Canada.

A formal filing of the submission for authorization of a vaccine for children is expected in mid-October, according to an email from Health Canada to CBC News.

Answering your questions about vaccine safety and COVID-19

3 years ago

Duration 13:01

Dr. Cora Constantinescu, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist and head of the vaccine hesitancy clinic at Alberta Children's Hospital, answers your questions about COVID-19 vaccines, their side-effects, and vaccinating children and those who are pregnant.

Saskatchewan is reporting over 100 active outbreaks of COVID-19 in schools, according to the province's website.

An outbreak in non-household settings is confirmed when two or more people test positive for COVID-19, according to the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA).

Outbreaksremains listed on the website until an SHA medical health officer declares them over.

Doctors answer parents'vaccine concerns

Pediatrician Dr. Ayisha Kurjiand child psychiatrist Dr. Madhav Sarda, both at the University of Saskatchewan, answered parents' questions and concerns about the COVID vaccine for children on Blue Sky with Garth Materie.

"It's kind of your job as a parent to worry," Sarda said. "That's normal, it's expected. It's a sign you're a good parent I encourage parents to be concerned, to ask questions."

The doctors debunked some myths about COVIDand vaccines, explained why it's important for children to be vaccinated, as well as possible vaccine side effects.

"This is a really safe vaccine. I know that Health Canada is one of the strictestbodies in terms of approving vaccines," Kurji said.

According to Kurji, the side effects in children should be similar to the ones adults have experienced: swelling, aches, tiredness and fever.

Sarda added that side effects usually appear in the first few daysand there aren't longer term impacts.

There have been rare reports of older children experiencing myocarditis, which is inflammation of the heart muscle, following COVID vaccination. Kurji says there is a higher risk of myocarditis from contracting COVID.

"When you get myocarditis with COVID, it's a lot more severe," she added.

Kurji says while some parents may not vaccinate their children since COVID cases among kids are mostly not severe she reminded people that"there are absolutely kids dying across the world from COVID."

"They are not all kids who have pre-existing medical conditions. Besides death, there's a devastating outcome that's not death. There are children who are ending up in the ICU There are also kids who are suffering from long COVID: debilitating headaches, muscle aches, fatigues."

That's on top of the mental and social impacts that the pandemic has had on children, Kurji added.

In Saskatchewan, three people under the age of 20have died from COVID-19. The data is not broken up any further.