Nicole Ireland, The Canadian Press Posted on Wednesday, December 14, 2022 at 4:04 pm EST
TORONTO – Despite the constant crush of sick children you have in Canadian hospitals, many of them suffering from the flu, not enough people are getting vaccinated against the virus, doctors say.
The Canadian Press asked health ministries and departments in all provinces and territories to provide their most up-to-date flu vaccination numbers. Among responding provinces and territories, the overall immunization rate is 30% or less, and lowest among children.
In the Northwest Territories, 11% of children under the age of five have received the flu shot. In Manitoba, it’s 12 percent. In Alberta, the rate is less than 17 percent.
BC is doing better after a recent flu shot at the clinic, with just over a quarter of children under five vaccinated against the flu.
Dr. James Kellner, a pediatric infectious disease specialist and epidemiologist at the University of Calgary, said vaccination rates for children under five — who are particularly vulnerable to the flu — are too low.
“The uptake in young children has definitely been lower than the uptake in older adults, but this year it’s particularly low in many places,” Kellner said.
Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s director of public health, stressed the importance of vaccinating young children against the flu at a news conference Wednesday.
Children under five have the highest flu hospitalization rate, he says, noting that currently, the weekly pediatric hospitalization rate is above levels typically seen at the peak of the flu season . He also said ICU admissions and deaths are higher than usual among children.
“This year’s flu vaccine is a good match for the circulating strains,” Tam said. “As we quickly approach the holidays, now is the time to get vaccinated if you haven’t already.”
Ontario’s health ministry said it doesn’t make flu vaccination rates available to the public until “after the flu season.” In an emailed response, the ministry said about 30 per cent of Ontarians typically get the flu shot each year.
Nova Scotia also said its flu vaccination numbers for this year were not yet ready.
Quebec said it measures flu vaccination rates for target populations. More than 70 percent of its long-term care and retirement home residents have received the vaccine this year, he said.
But the vaccination rate among health workers, who are another priority group for the province, is only 21%. That’s not high enough, said Dr. Luc Boileau, Quebec’s director of public health.
“We had a discussion this morning with all the CEOs responsible for all the institutions, and of course we don’t think it’s enough,” Boileau said at a news conference on Wednesday. He estimated that healthcare workers who deal directly with the public are probably 35 to 40 percent vaccinated against the flu.
Several provinces provided average influenza vaccination rates for their population as a whole. Of these, BC has the highest flu vaccination at 30%, an improvement over last year.
Alberta reported a 24% flu vaccination rate, while both Manitoba and Saskatchewan had 22% uptake. About 20 percent of people in the Northwest Territories have gotten a flu shot this year.
Older people seem to have the highest flu vaccination rates, ranging from 50 to 70 percent.
Most of the data provided correspond to the first or second week of December.
Last year, 39 per cent of adults in Canada got a flu shot, according to data from the Public Health Agency of Canada website. Vaccine uptake for children is not listed on the site.
Dr. Justin Penner, a pediatric infectious disease specialist who speaks for the Canadian Pediatric Society, said people six months and older should get a flu shot and there should be a sense of urgency similar to the vaccination campaigns against COVID-19.
Penner said the flu shot not only reduces the transmission of the virus, but also prevents people from getting sick and needing to be hospitalized if they become infected.
-With files from Camille Bains in Vancouver and Jacob Serebrin in Montreal
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on December 14, 2022.
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