As many young students returned to the classroom Tuesday with most of the pandemic restrictions lifted, the vast majority of them are not vaccinated.
Recent data from the Waterloo Region Public Health vaccine summary shows 40.9 per cent of children aged 5-11 have two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and 52.9 per cent only have one.
However, middle school and high school children aged 12-17 have a majority of their age group with either one (85.8 per cent) or two (82.4 per cent) doses.
This comes as the province dropped mask mandates, social distancing guidelines and the five-day isolation period for those who test positive. Sick students may return to class 24 hours after their fever breaks, but are asked to mask up for 10 days.
Zahid Butt, associate professor at the School of Public Health Sciences from the University of Waterloo, said it is "concerning" as children could bring the virus from school back into their homes and spread it around the community. With the mandates gone, he said vaccines are the only protection against COVID-19.
"Any COVID-19 vaccine protects against severe disease and hospitalization," said Butt. "So, it would have been good if the proportion of children, especially under 12, could have been higher. It's better for the children and it's better for the community."
One reason why some parents would not want to vaccinate their kids is because children with COVID do not get as sick as adults. With that being said, Butt said children with underlying conditions or are immunocompromised are at risk of getting even more sick. In terms of vaccine hesitancy, Butt said parents are worried about what is in the vaccine and they should ask their family doctor about side effects and how vaccines help protect their children and community.
Butt suggests that a population should have a vaccination rate of 90 per cent and above in order to reduce the amount of COVID cases in the community.
"Definitely for smaller children, it's a good idea to get the two doses, especially now that they're back in schools," said Butt.
As of Sept. 6, 82 per cent of Waterloo Region residents have had at least two doses of the vaccine and 49.7 per cent have been boosted.
