The majority of local parents of those aged 5 to 11, plan to vaccinate their kids against COVID-19.
That's according to a recent online survey of around 800 Sarnia-Lambton residents conducted by the Lambton Public Health.
Epidemiologist Siobhan Churchill spoke with Sarnia News Today about the results.
"The biggest finding there was that 6 in 10 parents said that they would vaccinate their child, age 5 to 11, when they become eligible. So, we're excited to hear about this and we're already planning for those clinics to launch as soon as it's approved."
Health Canada is expected to approve the Pfizer vaccine for kids on Friday.
Churchill said most parents said they would prefer either a family-friendly clinic in the community, or a clinic at their child's school with options to go during or after school hours.
"Parents who did not plan to vaccinate their children, they were mostly concerned about the potential side effects of the vaccine on their child, and they actually mostly believed in vaccines. So, we'll be developing some educational resources for parents to help address those concerns."
Lambton Public Health also conducted a telephone survey this fall focusing on mental health impacts of the pandemic, supports for public health measures and vaccine uptake.
Churchill said one of the most important findings showed that self-rated mental health has declined since the beginning of the pandemic, especially among younger people.
"Just 59 per cent of our residents reported that they had good or excellent mental health, and that's compared to 70 per cent in 2017."
Churchill said since it wasn't a survey that asked open-ended questions, it's hard to really dig in to why that's what people reported.
"But based on things like financial stress due to the pandemic, reduced access to mental health services, and reduced contact with friends and family, that result was not so surprising."
Results showed that people aged 18 to 34 had the lowest self-rated mental health and have experienced a steep decline since prior to the pandemic.
Churchill said residents were supportive of public health measures, such as COVID vaccine passports, 71 per cent, and additional lockdowns if COVID cases began to overwhelm the hospitals, 72 per cent.
To view the full results, click here.
-With files from Josh Boyce