Discussions

Pfizer and Health Canada have come to an agreement apparently regarding C19 vaccines for children ages 5-11. Is it the parents' responsibility to consent to the injections?  
 
I know some parents are opting out of this for reasons that are subjective.  
 
With the growing epidemic of said virus, the numbers of people in ICU's, are highest among the non-vaccinated. SO I guess it only makes sense to vaccinate everybody? Despite Hippocrates' ethics and universal human rights laws?  
 
What are peoples' thoughts on the upcoming vaccine implementation?

Gotta be careful not to get too far ahead when Health Canada hasnt announced results of their review, but it does sound like an announcement is coming:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pfizer-vaccine-children-1.6253616

In Ontario at least a few weeks ago almost 70% planned to get their kids vaccinated, 20% unsure and 10% said they wouldn't:
https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.thestar.com/amp/news/gta/2021/10/29/nearly-70-per-cent-of-ontario-parents-of-kids-5-to-11-planning-to-get-them-vaccinated-poll-says.html  

As always, facts are supreme.
If in fact vaccines do get approved for kids under 12, look for facts from reputable sources. Just as you will have through the wider vaccine discourse that's been going throughout 2021, pay close attention to what Public Health officials and our wider medical community say about it including safety and the role vaccines play in our pandemic response. If the conclusion happens to be that it’s safe and one still has reservations, questions or concerns as it relates to their personal health situation please consult your physician for professional medical educated advice on the topic.

In some circles of the internet there are some folks making an effort to spread false info and half truths under the guise of full truths. In that wider vaccine debate, those narratives seem to have gotten into 10-15% of the population.. a percent that seems to be disproportionately represented in some corners of the internet when you consider that the uptake rate in Brandon is 86.2%. 

Two links that have a ton of vaccine facts and you can bet will have plenty more on this topic as appropriate...

Health Canada:
https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/vaccines.html 

Province of Manitoba:
https://www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/vaccine/index.html

Ongoing challenge… pocket of the population stuck in how this effects “me” versus how this effects “us” and acting like everyone else is making decisions strictly in "me" mode. Some believe it, some I suspect stick with it because it’s an easy way to re-enforce biases.  Seeing that same mindset that seems to have impacted much of the 10-15% of the unvaccinated portion of the population also becoming a part of the new discourse on vaccinating kids. 

Required reading on the topic... a newly updated link on the Health Canada site that speaks factually to questions around safety, importance of vaccination and the process that went into approval of Pfizer in kids 5-11: 
https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/vaccination-children/covid-19.html

All some might say complicated by WHO president while stressing the importance of vaccines, raising questions about the idea of better-positioned nations securing doses for kids and boosters before poorer nations have necessary doses for their most vulnerable. As a regular citizen I see my role as being to take cues from our local and federal health authorities. If the doses are secured and an implementation program is in place along with guidance on what’s best for our population, that’s what we’ll do knowing that it's part of the wider plan to see this community and province through this. IMO anyone from the antivax crowd shouting this one to the rooftops on social media should also be clear what their plans would be once those poorer nations are able to catch up since it's so widely established how overwhelmingly effective the vaccine is in reducing transmission and vastly reducing hospitalization and serious outcomes in the wider population.

Just to add, an extensive story by CBC Manitoba on approval of the vaccine for kids. Another reference to consulting your family doctor:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/reaction-covid19-vaccine-approval-kids-1.6255512

and another poll this time from Quebec which had just over 60% of parents planning to get their kids vaccinated, 21% strongly in disagreement and some shades of grey in the remaining percentages:
https://beta.ctvnews.ca/local/montreal/2021/11/19/1_5673512.html

Link below on the Provincial site has more details released yesterday on expected availability and booking in Manitoba:  
https://news.gov.mb.ca/news/?archive=&item=52750 

Extensive opinion piece by Matt G at the Sun on the overall topic, polls and some of the hesitancy that's showing in polls…  
“ Pros outweigh cons in child vax concerns”  
https://www.brandonsun.com/opinion/columns/pros-outweigh-cons-in-child-vax-concerns-575781722.html 

respect for Matt and a couple commenters also trying to keep up the good fight as far as facts in comment strings below social media posts of links like this. It seems on social media that most rational folks have checked out of a lot of comments below Covid posts, still sharing an opinion with a 'like" of the main post. End result seems to be a mess of the small percentage of people who have confidently adopted alternative factually shaky narratives appearing more common than they are. The factual posts, even when having to withstand the confidently presented lynchings, play an important role and im very sure are appreciated by the vast majority reading. Just on that, speaking to social media pages and comments in general a reminder that just like on here social media services have "report" links that allow you to alert of misinformation that's being spread. I've found it worth the few seconds whenever I notice a real bad piece of misinfo that I know the site's admin team would want to know about and I try not to assume that someone else has already reported!

CBC story at the link below with more on the opening of bookings. Saying that as of 1pm 15,000 had already booked… which works out to ~12% of the eligible 125,000. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitoba-covid-19-vaccination-kids-1.6257976

Can confirm that at least #15,001 booked since that time :) (local appointments were into the weekend) 

U Sask’s Alexander Wong, Infectous Disease Doctor, on why he's vaccinating his 5-year-old. Includes an examination of concerns around side effects and an explanation for the perspective that benefits far outweigh risks...  
 
https://theconversation.com/amp/im-an-infectious-disease-doctor-yes-im-vaccinating-our-5-year-old-against-covid-19-here-is-why-you-should-too-171001 

at the same link, some other links that some might find relevant below the article under "you might also like" include ways to ease vaccine pain for children, an examination of ethical concerns surrounding approval and why vaccine doses differ by age of the recipient...