Alberta student COVID clinics cancelled due to low uptake
CBC
Hundreds of Alberta schools have had their COVID-19 vaccination clinics cancelled — for eligible children 12 and up — due to low uptake as case numbers soar across the province.
According to Alberta Health Services (AHS), 303 of the planned 2,401 school-based COVID immunization clinics — or about 12.6 per cent — have been called off this month. It's mostly due to a low number of parental consent forms being turned in, but in some cases schools chose to opt out.
Regionally, 178 clinics have been called off in the south zone, 80 in Calgary and 55 throughout the rest of the province, including 23 in the north zone, 10 in the central zone, and 12 in Edmonton.
The clinics run until mid-October and are open to eligible students in Grades 7 to 12 who are born in 2009 or earlier.
The cancellations come at a time when case rates are growing among school-aged children. Alberta Health statistics show 5- to 19-year-olds accounted for 26.4 per cent of cases between Sept. 16 and Sept. 22.
"It's a concern," said Dr. Jim Kellner.
He's a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Alberta Children's Hospital, professor of pediatrics at the University of Calgary and a member of the federal COVID-19 immunity task force.