EDMONTON — One of Alberta’s largest school boards wants the province to open vaccine clinics in schools as the number of students and staff infected with COVID-19 rises.
Trisha Estabrooks, chairwoman of the board for Edmonton Public Schools, says a letter will be sent to the UCP government by the end of the week.
It comes after the board unanimously passed a motion yesterday to try to get more five to 11-year-olds vaccinated and prevent further spread of the Omicron variant in classrooms.
Edmonton Public Schools says on its website that more than five per cent of its 105,787 students were absent yesterday due to COVID-19 — up from four per cent a day earlier.
Alberta Health says about 42 per cent of kids between the age of five and 11 have received a single dose of vaccine and about five per cent have had both doses.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the province’s chief medical officer of health, has said the government is looking for ways to increase the vaccination rate in that age group.
Estabrooks says the school board is providing the government with a solution to prevent further infections and is hoping for a decision sooner rather than later.