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By David Opinko/LethbridgeNewsNOW

Province will not mandate COVID vaccines for K-12 students

Nov 17, 2021 | 1:28 PM

Alberta’s Minister of Education says, while COVID-19 vaccines will be highly encouraged for eligible youth, they will not be required to get them.

Adriana LaGrange issued a letter to parents on Wednesday, reiterating that “there is no legislation in Alberta that requires K-12 students to have specific vaccinations to attend in-person schools, nor is Alberta Education considering mandating vaccines of any kind for students in the K-12 education system.”

She adds that school authorities cannot deny students access to education due to their immunization status

Premier Jason Kenney tweeted that any school board that attempts to implement a vaccine requirement for children to attend class will be held accountable.

Currently, only Albertans aged 12 and up are eligible to be vaccinated against COVID-19, but that could soon change.

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A decision from Health Canada on authorizing a small COVID-19 vaccine for children aged five to 11 from Pfizer-BioNTech could come within the month.

The agency has also received a similar application from Moderna.

READ MORE: Health Canada receives submission to approve Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for kids

Earlier in the school year, AHS introduced a COVID-19 School Immunization Program where students in Grades 7-12 could get their schools in school.

That campaign wrapped up at the end of October and around 5,000 students and staff were vaccinated through that program.

You can see the full letter from LaGrange below.