While truancy rates in Kamloops-Thompson schools are lower than in other jurisdictions, Dr. Trent Smith, a local pediatrician, said it may just be the calm before the storm. “We expect that things will start to pick up here in terms of illness among children, particularly younger children with colds and flu,” Smith said. “We’ve seen a lot of it in Ontario and Alberta is now reporting a big wave, so we think BC will probably experience it in the next week or two.” Dr. Smith believes that children who have not been exposed to viruses in the past three years are now more susceptible to colds and flu. “Children have not developed this immunity because they have not yet encountered these viruses. There’s been a build-up of – we call them immunologically naïve children who haven’t been exposed to the usual range of childhood diseases, who this year are exposed to all of them,” Dr Smith said. “We’ve sort of saved two years’ worth of children and now it seems that – at least in other parts of the country – they’re getting sick.” According to the BC Center for Disease Control, only 50 per cent of Kamloops children between the ages of five and 11 have received their first COVID-19 vaccination. “The rates of vaccination against COVID for people under 11 are still very low,” said Fenton, “so the population needs this protection from their main line, and it is very important to get vaccinated against COVID, regardless of your age”. The health official said everyone is reminded to be up-to-date on both their COVID-19 and flu shots, and to continue to follow health and safety protocols, including staying home when feeling sick, using mask in crowded places and frequent hand washing. “The public health interventions we’ve put in place have been very effective, so we need to bring some of them back now,” Fenton said.
