Reality check on Alberta politicians’ statements on schools, COVID-19 transmission and vaccines

#AbEd #AbLeg pic.twitter.com/NIDW973Tg0— Adriana LaGrange (@AdrianaLaGrange) February 10, 2022Dr. Chris Mody, head of the department of microbiology, immunology and infectious disease at the University of Calgary, said there’s no data to suggest children “pose absolutely no threat” as the education minister claimed.However, Mody said the correlation between symptom severity and viral load taken with the observations that children tend to have less severe symptoms could mean children have less viral load with a COVID-19 infection, with a caveat.

COVID-19: Alberta doctors, mayors react to Kenney removing vaccine passport, restrictions “I would argue that children have more contact and less social distancing with daycare workers, teachers, parents, grandparents,” he said.“It’s been shown for many different infections that children transmit the infection and are really the vector of subsequent transmission in a household.“And that’s actually predicted by studies that have been done now – not with Omicron, but with Delta – that the chance of a family member, a household member getting infected if a child becomes infected in the house is over 50 per cent.

While the chance of getting infected when a household member gets infected with one of the earlier variants is about half that,” Mody said.According to the provincial advice around the vaccine, asymptomatic children can still put others at risk.“Children can spread the virus even if they don’t have symptoms, potentially risking vulnerable friends, family or community members.”“The science is clear that children are at a much lower risk of COVID-19 than adults, and forcing them to cover their faces while learning and playing simply cannot be justified any longer,” LaGrange.