“there are still places in this province, like parts of northern alberta, that are hovering at only about 20 per cent for vaccinations.
“and that becomes very problematic if you don’t have province-wide mask mandates, in areas that are not heavily vaccinated,” mithani said.
“it makes going back to school potentially dangerous.”
mithani explained the delta variant is much more transmissible than the earlier strain of covid, and can lead to more severe outcomes in children.
data out of the u.s. shows that the delta variant is driving an increase in severe outcomes, including in children, with the u.s. centers for disease control estimating an average of 276 children hospitalized per day over the past week.
“we know that with covid the u.s. has always been a little bit ahead of us with each wave. but with delta, they are starting to see some severe outcomes in kids,” mithani said.
“when you let a virus run free in an unvaccinated population, like kids under the age of 12, you will see overall numbers increase, and you will see severe outcomes increase.
“that’s just the nature of the beast.”
parents are also worried about spread of the delta variant, even as calgary’s public and catholic schools have committed to a temporary mask mandate for students and staff.