Parents shouldn't be 'bypassing' medical advice on vaccine: doctor
CBC
A family doctor in Cambridge, Ont., says questions she gets from parents about the COVID-19 vaccine for children are not significantly different from those she hears about other, better-known vaccines.
But she warns that parents should seek medical information from doctors, not friends, in order to get accurate information.
Dr. Sharon Bal is a family doctor in Cambridge and also serves as the primary care physician lead for Waterloo region's vaccine task force.
During Friday's regional public health media briefing, Bal said the questions she is asked are not unlike those she's answered in the past when new vaccines have been introduced, such as the one for the human papillomavirus (HPV).
She said it's a "legitimate conversation around any new medication, any new vaccine."
Waterloo region's COVID-19 vaccine dashboard showed on Friday that just over 78 per cent of the population has received two doses.
It also showed just over half — 53.2 per cent — of children aged five to 11 have their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine while 17 per cent have two doses.
Many parents say they've heard COVID-19 is mild in children, so they're not sure the vaccine is necessary.
"The conversation that we have there is that, yes, most children do have mild illness," she said, but points out that's a narrow interpretation of statistics. The numbers also mean some children will become sick, possibly very sick.
"Is that your child? There's no way that we would really know that," she said.
She's also been answering questions about what complications a child would face if they do get COVID-19, including long-term effects.
"A lot of times people are looking for some reassurance from a health care professional that knows their child," she said.
"Sometimes they actually do want to do quite a bit more research so we can point them toward different websites like, for example, I've gone through the Canadian Paediatric Society's website with folks given some written materials."
They are conversations Bal says she and other doctors want to have with patients who have questions like they have in the past.
A growing number of Manitoba's MRI machines now use artificial intelligence, with a plan to have more than half using the technology by spring.
A mobile unit the Saskatchewan government bought in 2002 for providing mammograms to Saskatchewan women will soon retire.
The Prince Edward Island government is rolling out the province’s first-ever policing standards, which officials say will make police services more consistent, transparent and better supported.
Residents in Niagara Falls, Ont., continue to wait for news on the future of Marineland’s property and dozens of animals, including up to 30 belugas and four dolphins — nearly two months after the federal government turned down the theme park's request to export the mammals.
Canadian travellers hoping for a new year without having to worry about a labour dispute may be out of luck, as 2026 will see most major airlines from this country facing off with unions across the bargaining table.
Food prices are soaring. Food prices keep climbing. Food prices are defying cooling inflation.
WARNING: This story contains distressing details.
Ontario legislation that mandated air conditioning in all resident rooms in long-term care (LTC) homes has saved dozens of lives, according to a new study.
Gusty winds, rapid fall in temperature prompt special weather statement for Waterloo region and area
The mid-week warmup in Waterloo region, Guelph and area will abruptly come to an end on Friday, Environment and Climate Change Canada warns.
Water in two more schools in the N.W.T. show lead levels above Health Canada's guidelines for drinking water, according to the territorial government.
Ontario's ethics watchdog says it will investigate whether the province's labour minister contravened any laws in his handling of a controversial training fund.
Mitchell Rose, the 32-year-old man charged with three counts of attempted murder in St. John’s, will spend the next month on the forensic unit of a psychiatric hospital.
Nearly eight years after Halifax sold the historic Khyber building in the hopes it could be revived, the municipality says the site has become a “threat to safety” — and is taking it back.