Latest Safe Schools Saskatchewan town hall focused on vaccines and children

Wednesday evening’s Safe Schools Saskatchewan city corridor was a chance for the general public to be taught extra about COVID-19 vaccines.

In response to moderator Tenille Lafontaine, practically 200 individuals participated within the digital occasion.

Three Saskatoon pediatric docs — Dr. Ayisha Kurji, Dr. Mahli Brindamour and Dr. Madhav Sarda — served as panellists throughout the occasion which introduced a chance for individuals to submit questions associated to COVID-19, vaccines and youngsters.

“Even when kids have gentle diseases, this disrupts their lives a lot as a result of they miss faculty and actions whereas their dad and mom miss work,” Brindamour acknowledged throughout the chat.

“There’s a lot stress on the household. That is very disrupting to kids’s lives.”

One of many matters coated throughout the digital assembly revolved round vaccines for kids youthful than 12 years outdated, the youngest age of eligibility for a COVID shot.

Saskatchewan docs say approval for kids ages 5 to 11 to get the COVID-19 vaccine is coming, which could be information that leaves some dad and mom feeling hesitant.

One query posed throughout the city corridor requested why youth weren’t a part of the preliminary COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

Kurji clarified that vaccine trials centered on older populations first because the virus largely impacts adults.

“Youngsters had been achieved later as a result of they weren’t getting as sick, so that they had been decrease on the precedence checklist of getting the vaccine,” Kurji stated. “It doesn’t imply that it’s any much less protected. It’s simply that their testing was achieved later as a result of they weren’t the precedence.”

Sarda stated {that a} child-specific vaccine rollout remains to be on the sidelines because the officers await approval from Well being Canada.

He stated Well being Canada has to look via the info first and guarantee security earlier than something strikes ahead.

“I feel most of us are anticipating type of like the tip of October or early November for approval charges, presuming the info seems good,” Sarda stated.

Protected Colleges Saskatchewan stated individuals who weren’t in a position to be a part of the city corridor or have extra questions can discover extra info on their Facebook page.