Half of Canadian parents will vaccinate kids 5-11 immediately: survey

A new national survey suggests half of Canadian parents are keen to immunize their school-aged kids as soon as COVID-19 vaccines become available, but another quarter say they won’t get their kids the shot at all.

Vaccines are only approved for use on kids age 12 and up, but that could change soon, because Pfizer submitted a request to Health Canada on Monday to make its vaccine available to children as young as five.

A new poll from Angus Reid found 51% of parents surveyed said they would immunize their five to 11-year-old children as soon as possible.

The eagerness to vaccinate was even higher among parents whose household income was above $100,000 (59%), and among parents who had a university education (63%).

At the same time, many parents said they’re hesitant to immunize their young children. Nearly a quarter of parents surveyed (23%) said they would not immunize their five to 11-year-old kids.

Parents from lower income households were also less likely to say they wanted to immunize their children. Only 38% of parents from households with less than $50,000 in annual income said they wanted COVID-19 vaccines for their kids.

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A smaller proportion of parents, between 14% and 20% depending on the province, said they would immunize their school-age children but wanted to wait “a while” first.

Angus Ried

Pollsters with Angus Reid conducted the only survey from September 29 to October 3, 2021 and used a representative randomized sample of 5,011 Canadians.