Call on the Federal government by Ontario’s Minister of Education for Children to be Vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as possible

BY PAUL JUNOR

As Ontario enters the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and numbers continue to rise in schools across the province, the Minister of Education, Stephen Lecce has penned a letter to three federal ministers.

The letter is directed to: Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Patty Hadju, federal Minister of Health and Anita Anand, The letter was dated March 26th, 2021, and coincide with the accusation that Ontario Premier, Doug Ford made of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who he blamed for the shortage of vaccines in Canada.

In the letter, Minister Leece is requesting that the federal government look ahead and make plans to procure COVID-19 vaccines for kids. He wants to plan ahead to ensure that Ontario’s students are able to obtain the vaccines pending approval by Health Canada. In the letter Minister Leece writes, ”Already numerous clinical trials are underway to assess the safety and efficacy of vaccines in children and youth of different ages.  Some of these clinical trials may begin to return results in just a few short months. While this is hopeful news, it also underscores the necessity to start to plan immediately so that Canada is the leader on vaccine roll-out.”

He continues further, “Vaccination of children and students will be a critical part of ending the pandemic and keeping our children safe. Children and young adults often experience milder symptoms of COVID-19  when compared to older adults, but they are not immune. They can also spread the disease to those who are vulnerable and at risk, in child and education settings, in their households and in the community more broadly. To achieve this imperative and to ensure recovery for human health and our economy, we are calling on the federal government to take immediate steps in preparation for the availability of vaccines for children and youth.”

The Education Minister is calling on the federal for two specific demands

1. We would call on Minister Anand to ensure that Canada immediately procure a robust supply of vaccine from a diversified range of potential suppliers for children under 16.
2. We ask Health Canada to stand ready to vigorously and rapidly review and, if safe approve vaccines as companies complete their clinical  trials and submit their vaccines for approval.

CTV News reported on Sunday, March 28th, 2021 that Moderna is in the process of recruiting Canadians kids between six months to 12 years for trials of its COVID-19 vaccines. In addition Johnson & Johnson are planning on testing their vaccines between kids 12 to 17, and AstraZeneca is conducting trials on kids below this age range. At present, the vaccine produced by PFizer is available for adults and can be administered to children under the age of 16.

Minister Leece is not just pushing the federal government to procure vaccines for kids but he is expecting resources to ensure that Ontario is ready.  2022 will be an election year in Ontario, and the Minister is no doubt looking ahead to ensure that the school year runs smoothly. There are still a lot of uncertainties, challenges and issues that remain to be resolved. Vaccinating kids is one important objective.