COVID-19 and school: Canada-wide townhall to address parent, teacher, student concerns

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – There’s an effort underway to battle misinformation around COVID-19 when it comes to back-to-school.

‘Science Up First,’ which is made up of a group of independent scientists and healthcare researchers, is giving parents, students, and teachers across Canada a chance to air concerns and ask questions Tuesday through a national townhall focused on back-to-school safety.

The expert panel includes Dr. Yanet Valdez, an immunologist from UBC, who is a mother herself. She says one of the biggest concerns she’s hearing from parents is about the safety of kids too young to be vaccinated against COVID at the moment.

Valdez says it’s true the coronavirus typically has less of an impact on kids, but they can still carry it and pass it on to others.

“But there’s a second component of that, which is now the Delta variant. The Delta variant is more aggressive, the variant could infect kids. Also, the viral load in people, it’s higher,” she explained.

---

Related articles: 

• Canada’s doctors want COVID-19 measures in place for back to school

• Health Canada approves Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for ages 12 to 17

• Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine can be given to kids as young as 12, Health Canada says

---

She says we are at a critical point in which we need to take care of our young population, and we need to vaccinate everyone who qualifies to limit the spread of the variant.

Currently, people 12 years and older in Canada are eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Children as young as 11 can also qualify for a shot, if they are born in 2009. While trials continue in children younger than 12, no vaccine has been approved for people in that younger age group.

Valdez says a lot can be learned from what’s happening in the U.S., where many students have already returned to school. She says the rate of infection is quite similar to other viruses that have spread in the world in previous years.

“The COVID Delta variant has an R0 of eight — so one person could infect eight people. And some teachers in the States, in some classes, there were cases in which they could infect some kids. And the kids could get really sick too — so it’s not like they don’t get sick. There is a variety of symptoms,” she told NEWS 1130.

Valdez explains the townhall will give people a chance to ask questions and clear up any misinformation around COVID-19 and schools.

“Our quest (Tuesday) will be answering questions about the vaccine and vaccine hesitancy, safety, and any questions that the kids, the parents, the teachers will have. We’re open to discuss all these questions with the public,” she said.

Back-to-school questions about COVID-19?

We have a panel of experts ready to help answer your burning questions!

Join us on Tues Aug 31 in our #TakeScience town hall!#ScienceUpFirst

Register now: https://t.co/X5qUAaVWJg pic.twitter.com/suHwiLjMjP

— ScienceUpFirst | LaScienceD’abord (@ScienceUpFirst) August 26, 2021

“What we’re trying to do is bring the best, available science, in different ways, in creative ways. We want to stop the spread of misinformation, so that’s the main goal,” Valdez said of Science Up First and its events.

As a parent herself, she says she can relate with others in keeping children’s safety and health is top of mind. She stresses the vaccine is safe, and that people should trust the science.

Valdez adds if scientists say the vaccine is safe, it’s because they have the data to back it up through various, rigorous trials.

“In which they show effectiveness and safety.”

Currently, both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are approved for emergency use in children as young as 12 in Canada.

“The vaccine is safe, the vaccine is effective, the vaccine saves lives — that’s what we need to know and tell parents as well,” Valdez said.

In addition to Valdez, the expert panel will feature Dr. David Goldfarb, a medical microbiologist at BC Children’s Hospital, Dr. Vanessa Lapointe, a registered psychologist at The Wishing Star Developmental Clinic, and Dr. Zain Chagla, an infectious diseases physician at St. Joe’s Hamilton.

You can register for the #TakeScience Townhall online. It takes place at 5 p.m. PDT/8 p.m. EDT.