By Dawar Naeem
(Dawar Naeem is a journalist with the Focus Media Arts Centre)

On Tuesday October 19, 2021, the 4GetAboutIt Youth Collective at Radio Regent, invited Laura Hanson, a nurse practitioner at the Regent Park Community Health Centre (RPCHC), to discuss Covid-19 Vaccines and its hesitancy among youth.

Vaccine hesitancy has been an ongoing issue amid the pandemic. Although vaccines have been available in Canada for more than a year, there still seems to be a lot of concerns about the vaccines. Vaccine hesitancy stemmed from the following themes, concerns over safety, suspicion about political or economic forces driving the COVID-19 pandemic, the speed of vaccine development, a lack of knowledge about the vaccine, and various other conspiracies about them.

According to Laura Hanson, in Toronto, for the age group,12-17years, 88% have received the first dose and 82% are fully vaccinated. In Regent Park, 72.5% of youth got the first doses and 66.4% are fully vaccinated.  In Moss Park the rate of fully vaccinated youth is 63.8%. Why are the rates lower than the city’s average in communities of Regent Park and Moss Park?  According the Hanson, for some communities trusting the healthcare system is hard because of the history of not having a good relationship with it. Youth offered their own opinions about hesitancy among youth arguing that social media and pseudoscience has a lot to do with it.  

One popular myth that was discussed was the belief that vaccines are made with the covid-19 and that when you take a vaccine you are affected with it.  Hanson explained that this is not the case and explained to the group how MRNA vaccines work and create antibodies.

Other questions that the group talked about is whether youth should go around their parents back if they oppose the vaccines? As well as whether healthy youth should worry about Covid-19?  

Hanson reminded the group that parental permission is not required for a youth to get a vaccine and that there are affected young people who have died or are sick in the hospital from Covid. Hanson argued that even if you feel healthy and don’t feel you will get sick, you could still be a carrier and could pass it on to others.

What is the best way to promote vaccines to others?  Is it ethical to use raffles and prizes to encourage people to get the vaccines?  Hanson didn’t say whether or not it is ethnical but believes that order to promote vaccinations, healthy, welcoming and clear communications from the healthcare system and other concerning authorities, is required. To encouraged the youth, the concerned authorities should communicate with the youth and educate them about the vaccines in a language they understand and relate to. The concerned authorities should try to remove all barriers that are there, in order to make it easier for the youth and adults to access the vaccines.