GOB Working to Vaccinate Children

And so far, a little less than half the population has that extra layer of defense that the vaccine offers against the virus. The vax numbers had shot up only months ago, but it seems to have stagnated since - with that halfway point just barely out of reach. But the minister says if you only count the population that actually can receive the vaccine, we're closer to that 70% mark. He added that the government is working on getting the vaccine for kids under 12 years old.

Courtney Menzies:
"Do you feel as though the vaccination numbers have plateaued? We seem to be stuck at 48% of the population being vaccinated."

Hon. Michel Chebat, Minister of Health and Wellness
"Right so the numbers we are reporting to the public are numbers based on the entire population, but if you take away the group that is zero to eleven years old who can't get vaccinations, we have 67% of the population that have acquired at least one dose and we have 63% who are fully vaccinated. So we are doing well but we want to do better, we need to do better so again I issue that invitation, come out and get vaccinated."

Reporter:
"Is there a timeline when the younger children will start seeing the vaccine?"

Hon. Michel Chebat, Minister of Health and Wellness
"We are actively looking to acquire the Pfizer vaccination for the 5-11 year old group. We have expressed our interest so we're just waiting for feedback, we want to get it as soon as possible, you know we've been pushing to get face-to-face school going so we're pushing hard on that front."

Channel 7