Saskatchewan Polytechnic has joined the province’s universities by requiring all students and employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19..Sask Polytech made the announcement by a web post entitled “COVID-19 Information and Updates”..“Given the continued number of COVID-19 cases, the emerging Delta variant and the low vaccination rate among the 18 – 29 year old demographic that largely makes up the student population, Sask Polytech has determined the best course of action is to require students and employees on campus to be fully vaccinated. The first vaccination must be completed by September 17 and the second vaccination by October 22,” read the post..“To comply with Saskatchewan Human Rights Code, exemptions will be considered. Regular and frequent negative COVID-19 testing and daily health checks to be on campus will be required for those who are not fully vaccinated.”.By age group, Saskatchewan residents aged 18-29 had the second-highest percentage growth of COVID-19 vaccination. As of August 22, 120,363 in this group had had one dose and 95,102 were fully vaccinated, a 1.3% and 2.7% increase respectively from a week prior..The percentages for 12-17’s were the only ones that grew faster during the week, with a 1.5% increase in those getting their first dose and 4.0% for those receiving their second. Recently, the province approved the vaccine for anyone born in 2009, making some children shy of their 12th birthday now eligible, with parental consent unnecessary..It’s possible that young vaccine holdouts don’t view it as necessary. An examination by the Heritage Foundation in the U.S. found that as of February 17, 2021, only 0.2% of COVID deaths were among those under the age of 25 while 93% were among those 55 and over. The CDC page of deaths by age bracket, sex, and state is no longer available..The supposed threat of variants has been challenged by some experts, including former Pfizer Vice-President Michael Yeadon. In an interview posted on the Planet Lockdown documentary page, Yeadon said variants posed no special concern..“It’s quite normal for RNA viruses like SARS-CoV-2, when it replicates, to make typographical errors. It’s got a very good error detection, error correction system so it doesn’t make too many typos, but it does make some, and those are called ‘variants,’” Yeadon said..“The variant that’s most different from the sequence identified in Wuhan…[is] 99.7% identical to the original one, and I can assure you … that amount of difference is absolutely NOT possibly able to represent itself to you as a different virus.”.“When your government scientists tell you that a variant that’s 0.3% different from SARS-CoV-2 could masquerade as a new virus and be a threat to your health…they are lying,” Yeadon said..Reuters, paid by Facebook to do fact checks,disputed Yeadon’s claims. His response was posted by America’s Front Line Doctors..“They’re just being idiotic. I can show several good quality papers demonstrating that T-cells from a convalescent person or an immunized person each recognize all the then-available variants, again, as anticipated by fundamentals of immunology. The weak twaddle in their piece about antibodies is risible,” Yeadon said..Sask Polytech’s page warned to be cautious of online information..“The large volume of global information about COVID-19 on social media does not always reflect current provincial circumstances or appropriate risk mitigation measures,” said the page. Information from the province, Ottawa, and the World Health Organization was recommended..Lee Harding is a Saskatchewan-based correspondent for Western Standard.
