Alberta's youth vaccination rate the lowest in Canada
Alberta continues to have the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates for children in the country, despite the surge of Omicron variant cases.
Child-sized doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for children aged five to 11 years old were approved in Canada on Nov. 19, 2021. Appointments to dole out the doses in Alberta began days later on Nov. 24.
Alberta has 391,430 children in the five to 11 age group and, according to the province, 166,319 (42.5 per cent) have received at least their first dose while 24,010 (6.1 per cent) have had two shots.
Alberta Health Minister Jason Copping says a vaccine hesitancy committee has been established to investigate potential ways to improve vaccination rates in the five to 11 age group. Vaccine information has been sent directly to guardians and is also available online.
"We urge all parents to look at the information," said Copping on Monday, before confirming that Alberta is in line with its provincial counterparts. "Our approach is not that dissimilar from other provinces in terms of rolling out the vaccines."
The province has opened up vaccination sites throughout Alberta with extended hours, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., to accommodate the schedules of families as well as the desire of parents to accompany their children.
The numbers released by the government of Alberta vary slightly from those issued by the federal government, but both show Alberta trails other provinces in the percentage of children who have received their first dose.
Percentage of children (5-11) to receive their first dose as of Jan. 15
- B.C.: 47.4
- Alta.: 39.8
- Sask.: 50.4
- Man.: 52.7
- Ont.: 49.6
- Que.: 59.0
- N.L.: 74.7
- N.B.: 54.9
- N.S.: 64.1
- P.E.I.: 57.8
- Yukon: 53.9
- N.W.T.: 54.7
- Nvt.: 50.4
Percentage of children (5-11) considered fully vaccinated as of Jan. 15
- B.C.: 0.1
- Alta.: 5.2
- Sask.: 18.9
- Man.: 3.0
- Ont.: 6.6
- Que.: 4.2
- N.L.: 0.1
- N.B.: 3.2
- N.S.: 0.03
- P.E.I.: 0.0
- Yukon: 0.0
- N.W.T.: 0.0
- Nvt.: 0.1
With files from The Canadian Press.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet
NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth hadn't sent home any understandable data since last November.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.