Some Alberta teachers keeping a close eye on vaccination, COVID-19 rates
Some post secondary teachers say they'll be watching vaccination rates and an increase in COVID-19 cases closely as students return to class in just over a month.
Alberta has seen exponential growth in cases over the last week, and certain age groups are still lagging behind when it comes to immunization.
One of those groups primarily makes up post secondary students.
As of Friday, Albertans aged 20 to 29 are only about 44 per cent vaccinated.
They also make up a large number of the active virus cases in the province.
"When about half the group is not vaccinated, it's very easy for the virus to find its next host and move quickly through a classroom," Craig Jenne said.
Jenne is with the University of Calgary's Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases.
Come September, he'll be holding lectures to 150 students at a time.
"In my class we could have 75 or 80 people not vaccinated when we start up," Jenne told CTV News. "It's basically the ideal environment for a virus to move around."
Jenne has both of his shots and says he knows of many students who do too. The provincial data of vaccination rates in university and college students isn't available.
COVID-19 numbers over the weekend show the virus isn't gone yet.
Almost 400 cases were announced over the three day period -- and some believe the stats may have been helped along by the Calgary Stampede, which wrapped up July 18.
More than 60 per cent of Alberta's active cases are in the Calgary health zone.
But amongst the upwards trend, there is a lot of good news.
Hospitalizations and deaths have either steadied or are declining. Experts say it's proof that vaccines are working.
Jenne believes it's reason for optimism on the pandemic front.
"It's something we have to keep our eye on, but it's not something that should be all consuming at this point," he said. "The virus will continue to spread if we gather in large groups indoors, so if we can get outside and physically distance, there's no reason not to get out and enjoy summer."
Experts largely believe herd immunity can be reached if vaccination numbers approach 85 per cent.
As of Monday, fewer than 76 per cent of all eligible Albertans have been immunized.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
As GC Strategies partner is admonished by MPs, RCMP confirms search warrant executed
The RCMP confirmed Wednesday it had executed a search warrant at an address registered to GC Strategies. This development comes as MPs are enacting an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power, summoning one of its contractors to appear before the House of Commons to be admonished publicly for failing to answer questions related to the ArriveCan app.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 across the country.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.