as of friday, 65.2 per cent of all albertans have at least one shot of vaccine, and 57.4 per cent are fully immunized. that means more than 1.5 million albertans have yet to receive a single shot, including about 660,000 children under the age of 12, who are not yet eligible for the jab.
it’s these albertans who will experience the bulk of symptomatic covid-19 infection, colijn said, with current immunization rates pushing risk of severe illness towards younger groups.
though children are not as susceptible to severe outcomes from the coronavirus as adults, a significant amount of spread is expected in the group, since unvaccinated children will be in close contact with one another in schools this fall.
“the risk is way lower, but it’s not zero. it’s more like one-in-200 kids with covid who have needed hospital care. and if you have many thousands of infections, you will still see a good number of hospitalizations,” colijn said.
on friday, alberta pumped the brakes on its plans to do away with its remaining covid-19 containment measures, including testing, tracing and isolation protocols. those public-health interventions will now remain in place until at least sept. 27.
in justifying the reversal of course, alberta chief medical officer of health dr. deena hinshaw said reports of severe covid-19 illness among children in the united states was one factor that led to the delay. she also said the pause was prompted by higher-than-anticipated rates of hospitalizations.