To put it succinctly, stay up to date with your shots to protect yourself and others. A researcher and pediatrician who is also the Chief Executive Officer of the Eastern Ontario Health Unit is trying to get the message out for everyone to get their shots, whether it’s for flu or COVID-19 or any of the shots that are recommended for children.

Dr. Paul Roumeliotis stresses that vaccinations don’t just help the person getting the shot, but everyone around them, lowering the risk of transmission and keeping people out of the hospital or an ICU. He notes that when the pandemic began, there was a concern that, similar to flu, COVID-19 would hit elders and young children the hardest. It has hit the senior population the hardest, but not as much in younger children. Roumeliotis wonders if that is why some parents have gotten lax about vaccinations.

A report in April from the federal government stated that in the last six months 12.8 per cent of Canadians had received their primary series of COVID shots or a booster dose in the past six months. The percentage is 10.5 in Saskatchewan and 6.4 in Alberta.