While COVID vaccination clinics will happen in schools this fall, the NDP opposition thinks there’s more the province can do to keep school kids safe.
The province won’t test, trace, or isolate COVID cases after September 27 and Education Critic Sarah Hoffman says that she’s concerned about those students who aren’t eligible for the vaccine yet.
“They deserve to know that the kid sitting beside them isn’t going to have COVID. That if somebody had symptoms, that they’re going to be staying away. That they can get a test if they’re worried that they might have COVID or if their parents are worried that their child might have COVID. Making sure that testing is still available. These are some basic things that are happening around the world and we expect that Alberta students deserve no less.”
Hoffman was on the Trending 55 Hot Seat and says the province needs to make it easier for families to get vaccinated, especially in rural areas that have lower vaccination rates (with the lowest rates being in the Mackenzie region).
“Definitely what a lot of the research shows is that if you have low vaccination rates, your rate of spread is higher and risks are higher. We also that the Mackenzie region has a really high youth population. So making sure that people who do have symptoms are staying home, making sure that we make it as easy as possible for people to get vaccinated. Doing it in the schools is something that should’ve already been happening.”
Hoffman was this week’s guest from the NDP on the Hot Seat, the full discussion can be heard below.
– Kyle Moore, Trending 55 Newsroom
