mandate A COVID-19 vaccine mandate in schools could harm many low-income kids It is true that some provinces “require” proof of vaccination for students to attend schools (in practice, parents can easily opt out by signing a form and watching an educational video). But to perceive this vaccine – and the hesitancy that surrounds it – as in any way akin to vaccines that have long been mandatory for school attendance is to fundamentally misunderstand parents’ concerns about long-term effects and the speed with which this vaccine was developed. Simply declaring it compulsory is thus a surefire way to make parents feel alienated and unheard (especially parents from communities with historically fraught relationships with government and public-health authorities), while providing excellent grist for the anti-vaxxer mill, which will surely delight in another opportunity to promote further conspiracy and hysteria. alberta Alberta reports three cases of new COVID-19 subvariant, more hospitalizations, deaths Alberta Health says it has detected three cases of the BA. 2 variant and reported its second-highest rate of hospitalizations due to COVID-19. The province says there were 1,418 hospitalizations Wednesday, a day after it broke its record with 1,443. There were 1,309 people with the disease in non-intensive care and 109 patients in ICUs across the province. The province also recorded 22 additional deaths, bringing the total to 3,505 since the pandemic began. Alberta Health did not say when the three Omicron subvariant cases were detected. Federal health officials say so far, 51 such cases have been detected throughout Canada.

ont Ontario reports 608 patients in intensive care with COVID-19, 89 new virus-related deaths Ontario is reporting 608 people in intensive care with COVID-19 and 4,016 people hospitalized with the virus. The intensive care figures are down slightly from the 626 people in ICU reported yesterday, while hospitalizations rose slightly from the 4,008 reported Tuesday. There were 89 more virus-related deaths reported, which the province says occurred over the past three weeks, and another three deaths recorded that happened more than a month ago. There were also 5,368 new virus cases reported, but Public Health Ontario has said the real case count is likely higher because of changes to the province’s testing policy. Fifty-seven per cent of the province’s long-term care homes were experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks as of Wednesday. Ontario isn’t reporting data on COVID-19 cases in schools, but 195 schools reported more than 30 per cent of students and staff absent on Tuesday and four schools were closed.