On the heels of Health Canada’s approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children 5-11-years-old, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says children will not be required to be vaccinated to attend school..“There is no requirement in Alberta for children to be vaccinated to attend class,” said Kenney in a tweet that included a letter from Alberta Minister of Education Adriana LaGrange..“Any school board that attempts to implement one will be held accountable.”.Although Kenney’s statement sounds solid, he has flip-flopped on his stance on making vaccines mandatory in Alberta in the past..In November 2020, Kenney assured Albertans there would be no mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations in the province and said his government will look to make “a number of amendments to the Public Health Act,” to ensure as such. .“So let me be absolutely clear: Alberta will not be making that or any other vaccine mandatory,” he said in a live question-and-answer period..In July, Kenney reiterated Albertans would not be seeing the likes of a vaccine passport in the province adding he will fight any attempt by Ottawa to implement one..“We’ve been very clear from the beginning that we will not facilitate or accept vaccine passports,” Kenney told reporters at his annual Calgary Stampede pancake breakfast Monday..“I believe they would in principle contravene the Health Information Act and also possibly the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.”.“These folks who are concerned about mandatory vaccines have nothing to be concerned about,” he said..In an about-face on September 15, Kenney then announced the province would, in fact, bring in a mandatory vaccination policy..“All COVID-19 vaccines authorized in Canada are proven safe, effective and of high quality,” says the Government of Canada website..Pfizer made alterations to their original vaccine reducing the dosage by two-thirds for administration to children under 12 years old and up to 5 years old and is identifiable by an orange cap and label, compared to the regular dose identifiable by a purple cap..The website says the effectiveness of the shots one week after the second dose was about 95% effective in protecting trial participants from COVID-19 for those 16 years and older, 100% effective for those 12-15 and 90.7% effective for those aged 5-11..Calgary lawyer Jeffrey Rath of Rath & Company filed a criminal complaint on Tuesday addressed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, along with Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief medical officer, the Attorney General and RCMP superintendent..The complaint alleges the “fraudulent submissions of Pfizer Corp.” with regard to the Pfizer vaccine for children 5-11 years of age..Although Rath has asked the Canadian government to hold off on approval of the Pfizer vaccination until a full investigation can be conducted, the approval came Friday..Melanie Risdon is a reporter with the Western Standard.,.mrisdon@westernstandardonline.com
