Crowd demands COVID restrictions be lifted for children on P.E.I.

Dozens of people gathered outside the provincial government buildings in Charlottetown Tuesday to protest COVID-19 restrictions for children.

The crowd, which CBC confirmed with organizers to be about 70 people, requested Education Minister Natalie Jameson come out and accept papers saying government will be held responsible for any harms that come to children as a result of the restrictions.

The protest was organized by the group Standing 4 Students P.E.I., which has 654 members on its Facebook page.

The group called on Jameson to end vaccine mandates and masking requirements for children, and end restrictions on sports and other recreational activities.

Many in the crowd wore tape over their mouths which they said was symbolic of how the "government and the education system as a whole has silenced and ignored children of all ages and youth of all ages in this province."

They say the harms — which they describe as educational, emotional, physical, and physiological — are "far exceeding" any risks of children dying from COVID-19.

After a month of online learning, students on P.E.I. returned to classrooms Monday. Unless they have an exemption, students are required to wear masks at all times except when eating and drinking. They are required to be tested at home for COVID-19 three times a week using a rapid antigen test.

P.E.I.'s Chief Public Health Office says masking helps prevent the spread of COVID-19, and offers protection to both the person wearing the mask and the people around them.

On vaccines, the CPHO says it is following guidance from Canada's National Advisory Committee on Immunization. It recommends that a complete series with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine should be offered to children five to 11 years of age who do not have contraindications to the vaccine, with a dosing interval of at least eight weeks between first and second dose.

NACI also states that it is "essential that children aged five to 11 years and their parents are supported and respected in their decisions regarding COVID-19 vaccinations for their children, whatever decisions they make, and are not stigmatized for accepting, or not accepting, the vaccination offer."

When asked about the demonstration during a scheduled COVID-19 briefing, Premier Dennis King said he understands people are tired and frustrated as they approach the two-year mark of the pandemic.

"I have to also believe that the people who were outside today, I don't think they're bad people, I think they're frustrated and they want to voice their views and I support the right to do that."

King said he and the CPHO try to take the best science and information and develop it into policy for the public at large, and it's human nature for people to look at how it will personally affect them and their families.

"It's really really hard to develop public policy for an individual family or group, so you try to do the best you can for the broad group," King said.