From idea to reality: COVID-19 Vaccination for Children and Youth

COVID-19 vaccines for children and youth will soon be available. While serious acute ilness in children is rare, it can occur, underscoring the importance of vaccinating children and youth against COVID-19. Further, children and youth represent 21% of the Canadian population so vaccinating children and youth against COVID-19 is necessary for population-wide immunity. There are numerous unknowns including vaccine immune response, side effects, degree of protection for future COVID-19 infection among children and youth in addition to the perceptions of parents and healthcare providers about vaccinating healthy children and youth against COVID-19. In April 2020, we directed Canada's largest ongoing children's cohort study, TARGet Kids!, to understand the effects of COVID-19 on Canadian children and families. We conducted surveillance involving 1123 children to understand SARS-CoV-2 infection and symptoms, risk factors for infection, physical and mental health status and seroprevalence among children and their parents. We propose to build upon this work to understand COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness and safety among 2000 children and youth age 0-16 years and their parents. We will also understand COVID-19 vaccine uptake and use qualitative methods to understand COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and decision-making among parents and healthcare providers. Rapid evaluation with a specific focus on children, youth and their parents will provide high-quality evidence to guide family-based policy interventions for COVID-19 vaccination for children. This study will provide needed information to inform vaccination policies for children and youth, provide confidence about COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness and safety for children and youth and contribute to a high degree of vaccine uptake so that society can return to normal functioning.