Vaccination of toddlers is not popular in Estrie

UPDATE DAY

For a week now, toddlers from 6 months to 4 years old have had access to the vaccine against COVID-19. Enthusiasm does not seem to be there in Estrie, however.

In the region, 4,000 meeting slots are available, but just over 300 have found takers. Of this number, about half of toddlers received their vaccine last week, i.e. more than 160 children.

When asked about the reasons for this non-vaccination, most parents said they were same vaccinated, but fear the effect on their offspring. Fears that must be dispelled according to pediatric infectious disease specialist Dr. Jesse Papenburg of the Montreal Children's Hospital.

“The Covid vaccine is not more dangerous than all the other vaccines provided for their age. »

Vaccination in holiday mode

The slowdown in the vaccination campaign is possibly linked to the start of the construction holiday.

< p>The rate of vaccination of the general population has been sustained since the beginning of July. In Estrie, 3,135 doses were administered in the week of July 3, 3,921 the following week and 3,894 in the week of July 17. But when the construction holiday started, only 661 doses were injected into an Estrie arm.

It is therefore expected that the vaccination rate will resume in the coming weeks. But until then, whether for the baby's first dose or a booster dose, the nine vaccination centers in Estrie are ready to welcome the population.