HALIFAX -- Ask five-year-old Sophie why she wants a COVID-19 vaccine, and she answers with surprising certainty considering her age.
"'Cause I don't want to wear any mask!" she exclaims.
Her mom, Fallon Jones, says as a parent of two young children, the whole family is looking forward to what immunization could mean.
"I'm looking for that little bit of normalcy so we can go back and see family again, and just get back to our lives," Jones says.
But her children will have to wait, because only children aged 12 and up are approved to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in Canada. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is the only one with approval for that age group at this point.
While Fallon says finding conflicting opinions about vaccinating children isn't hard, she's comfortable with getting her kids the shot -- when she can.
"I think we need to trust the science and wade through the abundance of information that is out there," she adds.
Parent Jennifer Adcock agrees.
"When (the age) went to 12, our next-door neighbor was so excited," she says. "He was like, 'I'm gonna get a COVID shot for my 12th birthday!"
Adcock says her daughter, who is 10, was disappointed that she won't qualify yet. The busy mom understands some parents may have questions and concerns about vaccinating their children, but she says she's "all for it."
"So we get to some sort of herd immunity," Adcock says, "because (kids) are all over each other, in the lunch room, on the buses, I know in the playground, they try their hardest, but they're children."
Health experts say approving a COVID-19 vaccine for use in children under 12 will still take time.
Dr. Karina Top of the Canadian Center for Vaccinology says studies looking into COVID-19 vaccine use in children under 12 are ongoing right now, working on determining the most effective dose for kids.
"I've heard estimates as early as September that those results may be submitted to Health Canada, and then they'll have to review it and then make a decision."
The Maritime provinces are moving closer to vaccinating children. Prince Edward Island announced Tuesday it will begin to vaccinate 12-to-15-year-olds with first doses next month, and second doses in September.
When it comes to any potential vaccine side effects, pharmacist and parent Diane Harpell says Pfizer's study in children 12-and-up suggests children will likely have the same types of reactions to the vaccine as adults do.
According to Health Canada, common side effects to the COVID-19 vaccines are mild and include soreness at the injection site and fever.
Harpell, who is also Chair of the Pharmacy Association of Nova Scotia, says that's in line with other vaccines given to children.
"We've been giving flu vaccine to children much younger than that for many years and seeing what type of adverse effects, side effects those ages have had, again similar things that we've seen with other vaccines."
Public health experts say children don't generally experience the same severity of symptoms with COVID-19 as adults can, and a recent University of Manitoba study found they may actually be less infectious than adults.
Harpell says those factors will come into play as public health agencies decide the best guidance to give on vaccinating young children against the virus.
"That's what we're going to be looking for after these studies are done," she says. "Does it make sense, at this point in time, given the place where you live, to vaccinate your child?"
Dr. Karina Top says making the decision on vaccinating children will also rely on how much of the rest of the population gets immunized and what happens to case counts.
Although, she adds, the goal is always to give people "as much access to the vaccine as possible."
